There Will Always Be Hope
by ChibiChibi
Summary: *Completely revised* DB Z/GT/BtVS Crossover. Post The Gift, post GT and two years after Mirai Trunks defeated 17 and 18. When Glory opened the portal, two Saiyajins found their way to Sunnydale. What trials await them and will they find a way home?
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I don't own either Dragonball Z/GT nor do I own anything concerning Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Angel the Series! They are the result of a lot of hard work from Akira Toriyama and Joss Whedon. I'm only writing this fanfiction for fun and I'm not making any profit by this story. **

**A/N: Hello everyone! I wrote this story a couple of years ago and decided to revise the it to make it better. Since it has been one of the first stories I've ever written, the writing style and the English grammar (I'm German) has been, well, not that good, so I will try to improve this. So, those of you who have already read it, might want to give it a try, because in my opinion it has become a lot better. And those of you who haven't read it yet, maybe you want to give it a try ^^**

**Well, about this story: It's a crossover between BtVS, some Angel and Dragonball Z/GT and this takes place directly after the fifth season of Buffy ended. You will see in the beginning that I've included some parts of the last episode of that season (this is all Joss's!), but this was necessary for this story.**

**Alright, if you have any questions, feel free to ask! Otherwise, have fun with this story!**

**Prologue **

Dawn was scared. Spike was gone, he couldn't save her anymore, and she had no idea where Buffy was. Tears ran down her face, crying out in pain, as the Doctor cut the pale skin of her stomach. She barely heard his words, "Shallow cuts, shallow cuts… Let the blood flow… free," as thick drops of blood ran down her legs and trickled over her feet.

"Dawn!"

The girl gasped in pain, as she cried her sister's name, "Buffy!"

The Doctor turned around upon hearing the girl's cry and a fleeting look of surprise crossed his face, when he spotted the Slayer striding purposefully up to them. "This should be interesting—"

However, he couldn't do anything, as Buffy simply walked past him and gave him a small shove, which pushed him from the platform. He was screaming, but Buffy ignored him, as she went to the still crying Dawn. "Here," she mumbled reassuringly, immediately starting to loosen the knots of the rope that held Dawn in place.

"Buffy, it hurts," the girl whimpered, as the blood ran over her toes and began to drip over the edge.

"I got it. Come here. You're gonna be okay," Buffy tried to comfort Dawn, as she finally pulled the last rope off and supported her sister, as she led her limping across the platform to the tower entrance.

But at the same time, the few drops that had fallen stopped in midair as if hitting some invisible ground and a small circle of light appeared, which quickly grew bigger. The portal had opened. Dawn noticed this as well and suddenly stopped, turning to Buffy.

"Go!" Buffy demanded, almost desperately, but forcefully.

Dawn looked past her towards the portal underneath them and then at her sister, a resigned and sad look on her face. "Buffy, it's started."

Buffy turned around as well, her eyes falling upon the glaring blue and white light of the portal. Lightning was coming out of the portal, striking buildings and streets, destroying them completely and leaving demons in their ruins. The ground was trembling under them.

~*~

Bulma sighed, as she looked out of the window. She still wasn't used to the peace this world was now living in after almost eighteen years of terror through the Jinzoningen. Outside in the frontyard she saw her son Trunks sparring with an invisible opponent. She couldn't believe that it had already been two years since he had defeated the Jinzoningen. It really seemed to her, as if it had been a day ago. Trunks would have been nineteen years old now, if it weren't for the Room of Spirit and Time. Now, after having spent two years inside this room, he was twenty-one. Bulma sighed again. He seemed so depressed the whole past year. He had even let his hair grow again, which he was now wearing tied back in a ponytail, letting just a few bangs hanging in his face. Suddenly Bulma got an idea. Maybe a trip to the past, to see his old friends again, would help him to get over it.

Just a few hours later, as Trunks had just finished his training, Bulma was already waiting for him in the kitchen. He immediately noticed that his mother was planning something. "Hey mom! What's up?"

"Trunks, eat something, take a shower, pack a few clothes and meet me in the lab in half an hour. I've got a surprise for you," she simply told him.

Trunks wanted to say something, but his mother had already left the kitchen again. Shrugging, not really caring and wanting to think about it, he prepared some cereals for a quick snack, which he finished within a few minutes, and then went up to his room. However, as he opened his closet and started to pack a few clothes into a bag, his mind began to wander almost on its own accord. And his worry started to grow. He really hoped that it wasn't something bad – after living in fear almost all his life, he had hoped that earth would never be threatened again. Spurred on by this worry, the bag was filled within about five minutes and the shower also didn't take much longer, and so he found himself down in the lab only twenty minutes later. His mother was standing in front of a tall machine, which was covered with a large piece of cloth. "So mom, can you please tell me what this is about?"

Smiling mischievously, she pulled at the large cover and let it fall to the ground, revealing the time machine. "I noticed that you seemed pretty down in the last few months, so I thought that it might cheer you up to see your friends in the past again. So, what do you say?"

A huge grin lit up Trunks's face, as he walked up to his mother and hugged her tightly. "It's incredible, mom… Thank you!" he told her softly.

As soon as he had let her go again, Bulma was already shooing her son towards the time machine. She would miss him of course, but it was far worse to see him like this. She knew that he was lonely, having never had any friends in this time except for Gohan. But then Gohan had died as well and he had been left behind. "Well, what are you waiting for, Trunks?"

"Do you want to get rid off me that desperately?" Trunks asked her, but his eyes were twinkling slightly in humor. Bulma had missed seeing him like this.

Bulma rolled her eyes, but she was grinning. "In a way, yes. I can't stand seeing you moping around like this, so you better have a huge smile on your face, when you get back… But, stay as long as you want. And don't forget to say hi to your father."

"Don't worry, mom, I won't," Trunks replied. "But is it really okay for you?"

"Trunks…" Bulma's face softened, as she gently wiped a stray strand of hair out of Trunks's eyes. "Would I send you back to the past, if it weren't okay for me? You've made friends back then and I only want you to be happy. And don't you dare worry about me! I still have ChiChi and the other guys, so I'm not alone. And now, go! Before I change my mind."

Trunks could see the tears in his mother's eyes, so he just hugged her one more time, and then jumped right into the only seat in the time machine. He pushed a button to check the instruments and nodded in satisfaction. Everything was okay. After he had typed in the date in the past, when he wanted to arrive, he looked down to his mother. "Everything's ready."

Bulma nodded slowly. "Okay, Trunks… Goodbye and be careful!"

"Don't worry… I'll be back soon. Goodbye!" Trunks smiled at her and pushed another button. The glass dome of the time machine closed and then rose into the air. Only a few seconds later, it was gone.

When the machine arrived safely in the wormhole, which would bring him back in time, Trunks leaned back in the chair and closed his eyes wearily. His mother had been right. He had been unhappy, but it also hurt him to leave her like that, so sudden. He wished, he could have taken her with him, to see his father, but he knew that Vegeta had his own Bulma in the past. It would only hurt her more to see the happiness of her other self, the happiness the Jinzoningen had denied her.

But he didn't have more time to brood about this, because suddenly a red warning light lit up and an alarm pulled him out of his thoughts. The instruments in the time machine were going haywire and the machine itself began to tremble violently. Looking up from the instruments, Trunks immediately noticed the source of this disturbance. Right in front of him, in the close distance, was a light blue vortex, which was pulling the time machine in, threatening to swallow it. Trunks pushed a few buttons, trying to get the time machine back under his control. But nothing worked. He was getting closer and closer to the vortex and suddenly the bright light engulfed him.

"Fucking hell!"

~*~

It was a beautiful day in Satan City. The sun was shining, the birds were chirping, everything was perfect. Almost everything, if you were Pan, who was walking alone through the Central Park, surrounded by many happy couples. She hated spring. Everyone seemed to be in love and be loved back. She let out a growl. She had sworn that she would tell him today! She couldn't take it anymore!

This morning she had decided to tell the man of her dreams that she was in love with him, had been for a few years already. A man who was fourteen years older than her. The man who probably just saw her as his little sister. Trunks.

Pan knew that he wanted to go to the park this day. She had eavesdropped on a conversation between him and her uncle. She tried to find a track on his ki and she succeeded. He was not far from her. But suddenly she stopped, as she noticed something weird. His ki wasn't alone, Marron's was with him. But what would she want with him in the park? Could it be…? Pan quickly shook her head. She was sure that it was just a coincident.

It didn't take long for Pan to get near Trunks. She saw him leaning with one hand against a tree and it looked like he was talking to someone, but she couldn't see who it was, because the person was standing behind a tree. She took a deep breath, collecting all her courage and walked up to him. At exactly this moment she could make out a bit of blond hair behind the tree and saw Trunks leaning forward and kissing the girl - Marron. Pan could feel anger, pain and despair building up in her body and tears brimming in her eyes.

Trunks noticed the familiar ki flicker up behind him and turned around. "Pan? What are you doing here?" he asked confused, completely oblivious to her inner turmoil.

Pan quickly blinked away her tears. She would never let him see her cry. "Nothing," she replied flatly, "just taking a walk."

"Oh, then… I would ask you to join Marron and me, but… Oh well, you'll be the first to hear the good news." Trunks put his arm around Marron's shoulder and pulled her close, with a bright smile on his face. "We've been dating secretly for a few weeks and have now decided to take the next step. We're officially together now, Pan, can you believe it?"

Pan felt her anger rising more and more. She couldn't believe how clueless he was! Didn't he see the pain she was in? How could he have never noticed what she felt for him?

"Pan? Are you okay?" Marron now wanted to know.

"Sure, why shouldn't I?" Pan felt the tears coming back and then noticed that they were now running down her cheeks. She cursed inwardly and quickly turned away from the new couple.

"Pan? Tell me! What's up? I can see that you're not okay! Come on! We've been best friends for so long! You can tell me what's bothering you," Trunks tried to comfort her, but he didn't realize that this made it even worse.

"Best friends Trunks. Yeah, that's what we were," she told him bitterly and took off into the sky, not caring if anyone saw her.

"Pan! Wait!" Trunks shouted and looked back at Marron, who just nodded at him encouragingly, and then followed Pan.

When Pan felt Trunks following her, she sped up even more. The tears in her eyes blurred her sight and she couldn't see clearly as she was flying. It was much too late that she noticed the big white vortex in front of her. A cry escaped her lips, as she tried to stop, but couldn't keep herself from crashing into this vortex, which swallowed her whole. "Just great!" she mumbled sarcastically, before she drifted into unconsciousness. But the last thing she heard before her body went limp was Trunks calling out her name.

~*~

Buffy turned to back to Dawn as Dawn continued to stare at the portal in shock, but also resignation. It was all her fault and she knew what she had to do now. "I'm sorry," Dawn said tearfully.

"It doesn't matter," Buffy told her calmly and took a step forward. She meant it. It really didn't matter. It was too late and now she was going to do what she had promised. She would do anything to protect her sister, her own flesh and blood.

Suddenly Dawn lurched forward, trying to run past Buffy, but the Slayer grabbed her, holding her gently at both arms. "What are you doing?" Buffy asked her, confused and shocked.

"I have to jump," Dawn tried to explain. "The energy."

"It'll kill you," Buffy replied, still not letting go of Dawn.

"I know," the girl said softly, as Buffy stared at her, understanding about what Dawn wanted to do dawning in her eyes. "Buffy, I know about the ritual. I have to stop it."

Shaking her head jerkily, Buffy said, "No."

The whole construction under them shook violently for a second, as the earth trembled again. "I have to," Dawn cried forcefully. "Look at what's happening."

Both looked up as more lightning crackled, even more than before and a huge dragon flew out of the portal. It cried out and soared past the tower, flying away as they followed it with their eyes.

Frantically, Dawn turned back to her sister and said resolutely, "Buffy, you have to let me go. Blood starts it, and until the blood stops flowing, it'll never stop." A look of anguish and despair had spread over Buffy's face, as she listened to her sister's words, which now turned to a plea. "You know you have to let me. It has to have the blood."

Suddenly Buffy got a look of realization on her face, as memories flooded her mind. Spike saying that it was always about the blood. Her comparing her blood with Dawn's after the girl had found out about being the Key and saying that it's the same, that it's Summers blood. Her saying that Dawn was her, that the monks had made Dawn out of her. And then, at last, the first Slayer telling her that death was her gift.

Frowning, Buffy turned around. In the distance, holes seemed to be opening in the sky, as the dimensional barriers were torn down, but the sky was growing lighter as the sun began to rise.

When Buffy turned back to Dawn, there was a peaceful look on her face, as she had made a decision. Dawn stared at her, wide-eyed, as she also realized, what her sister was about to do. She shook her head slightly. "Buffy… no!"

"Dawnie, I have to," Buffy told her calmly.

"No!" Dawn replied, disbelievingly. Tears gathered in her eyes again and she felt the sobs built up in her chest.

"Listen to me. Please, there's not a lot of time, listen."

Buffy held Dawn by the upper arm and continued talking to her, saying everything that needed to be said.

"Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will _always_ love you… But this is the work that I have to do." Tears ran down Dawn's face, as she listened to her sister, and she began to sob, knowing that there was nothing she could do to stop her. "Tell Giles... tell Giles I figured it out. And… and I'm okay… And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world... is to live in it… Be brave. Live. For me."

Buffy gently wiped some strands of hair out of her crying sister's face and kissed her on the cheek. She took one last long look Dawn, gazing upon her with eyes filled with love, before she turned around, running to the edge, and jumped off of the platform in a swan dive.

Dawn could just watch, crying harder and sobs shaking her whole body, as Buffy fell through the vortex. She couldn't see how the usually so brave face of her sister was twisted with pain, and couldn't hear her sister's screams, as shocks of lightning shot through her body until eventually a peaceful look appeared on Buffy's face and the portal closed.

~*~

With an incredible loud bang, Trunks's time machine crashed into a wall, as it shot out of the portal. It shattered into a thousand pieces, bringing most of the wall down because of the impact, but Trunks was able to climb out of the rest of the machine nearly unscathed. He just got up and turned around in time to see vortex close right in front of him. Growling, he hit one of the broken parts of the time machine. "Damn! Now I'm stuck here and I don't know how I can get back." He looked around and suddenly realization dawned on him. He had no idea, just where the hell he was.

~*~

"Hey mom! Look! Someone's falling from this roof!" a little girl told her mother, pointing to an unconscious falling body.

At the moment the mother followed her daughter's gaze, they heard something hitting the ground. "Oh my god," the woman gasped, her hand flying to her mouth. "Stay here, hon! I look what has happened!" She made sure that her child had understood and then ran over to where the body must have hit the ground. What the mother saw there, shocked her. A girl was lying there, who couldn't be older than eighteen, with a bad head injury according to the blood seeping through her black hair. The woman slowly got down and felt the pulse. Much to her relief it was still there and she quickly grabbed her cell phone, calling an ambulance.


	2. Aftermath

**Chapter 1: Aftermath**

Trunks stared in shock at the portal, where Pan had just disappeared in. He called out her name and flew as fast as he could to the white vortex, but it disappeared directly in front of him. "Shit!" he cursed loudly. Immediately horrifying thoughts shot through his head, and he ran with his fingers though his hair. What could he do now? If Gohan found out then… No… Trunks shook his head. He shouldn't think about that. He had to do something. Now. So, without further ado, he turned around and flew back to the park, where Marron was still waiting for him.

"Trunks hon, what's up? Where's Pan?" she asked, sounding worried, as she how pale her boyfriend's face was and noticed the look of shock in his eyes.

"A vortex swallowed her," Trunks told her. "I explain everything later. We have to go to CC now!" Marron nodded confused and Trunks picked her up and together they flew to Capsule Corporation.

When they finally arrived there just a few minutes later, Trunks stormed inside, followed by Marron. But they immediately stopped in the living room, when they saw that everyone was already there. They had apparently all felt Pan's ki disappear and were now worried about her. They were just having a discussion about what could have happened to Pan, as Trunks entered the room.

"I think I can explain," he said almost in a whisper, but much to his surprise everyone had heard it.

"Trunks? What did you say? Do you know what has happened to Pan?" Videl asked him, and would have gotten up from the couch, if Gohan hadn't gently held her down.

"She was swallowed by a big, white vortex. I tried to go after her, but it closed before I got there," Trunks admitted.

"But why should she fly into a vortex?" Goten asked bluntly.

"I guess she didn't see it in time and she flew way to fast, so that she couldn't stop when she finally saw it." Trunks was rambling now, but somehow, he just wanted to get it out. He wanted to get this weight off his chest, this suffocating feeling.

"Trunks, now sit down and explain everything," Bulma said and gently led her son to the sofa.

Nodding, Trunks sat down and then proceeded to tell them everything that had happened in the park. He finished his story with Pan crashing into the vortex and said vortex vanishing right in front of his eyes.

"You told her what?" Bra asked angrily, making sure that she had heard right.

"I told her that she could talk to me, since we always were best friends. And she then told me that I'm right," he repeated for her.

"Trunks, how did she tell you that? In a grateful way, or how?"

"It sounded… I don't know… not that cheerful, more bitter. But what does that have to do with her being swallowed by a vortex?" He was confused now. Pan was gone, only Dende-knew-where, and all his sister wanted to know was, how Pan had reacted?

"Trunks, Trunks, Trunks… Sometimes I ask myself how someone like you could be my brother…"

"What the hell do you mean?" His eyes flashed angrily.

"How can someone be that blind?! That's the reason for her running off and crashing into the vortex!"

"How can this be the reason?"

"You idiot!" Bra now snapped at him. "She was in love with you ever since she knew you! And you hadn't even noticed? But to make it even worse, she called this morning to tell me that she had enough of hiding this from you and finally wanted to show you her true feelings – that she loves you.

"Is that true, Bra?" Gohan asked her in a deathly calm voice.

"Yes it is."

Trunks' face became even paler, when he heard what his sister was telling him. He couldn't believe it. Little Panny, one of his best friends, in love with him?

"Trunks, if something happens to my little girl, I swear I'll kill you!" This time it was Videl, who had to put a calming hand on her mate's arm.

"But Gohan!" Trunks jumped up and began to pace. Turning to Gohan, he pleaded, "I swear! I didn't know! If she had just talked to me earlier, then she wouldn't have found out about me and Marron the way she did."

"Whining doesn't bring anything brat. We just have to find a way to bring her back," Vegeta said, just a tiny hint of worry audible in his voice.

"But that will be hard, really hard. We don't know with what kind of vortex we're dealing with. It could have been a portal to another planet, another time or maybe even another universe," Bulma told them thoughtfully, her mind apparently already going through different scenarios and calculations.

"I don't care how hard it is! I want my little girl back," Gohan told her, burying his face in his hands, completely devastated.

~*~

Not even half an hour later in Los Angeles, two men in dark suits were walking down a dark hallway. They first stopped, when they arrived in a room, which was parted with a wall of bulletproofed glass. At the wall were several cabins and they walked to the last one on the right side, where a young woman with long dark hair and dark eyes was sitting. One of the men sat down in front of the girl and picked up the orange phone, which was lying on the table in front of him, motioning for the girl to do the same. She looked at him suspiciously, but eventually obeyed and picked up the phone on her side of the glass-wall.

"Who are you?" she asked indifferently, but with a hint of fear in her voice.

"Faith, we are from the Watcher's Council and we need to talk with you."

"What about? Do you want to make an appointment for killing me?" she asked sarcastically, trying to hide how uncomfortable she felt talking to him.

"Please, listen. This is very important." Faith leaned back in her chair and waited for him to tell her what was so important. The man took a deep breath. "Buffy Summers is dead."

Faith was shocked. She had expected anything, but not that. Buffy, dead? How could that happen? "And what do you want from me now?" she asked, when she regained her composure.

"We want you to go to Sunnydale."

Faith was in her cell, packing her few clothes and belongings into a bag, as the conversation she just had a few minutes ago replayed in her head.

'Hello! If you haven't noticed yet, I'm in jail. So how can I go to Sunnydale?'

'The Council has connections to the government and they agreed on giving you a second chance.'

'A second chance?'

'Yes, that means you're free.'

'Free?'

Once she had gathered all of her few belongings, a guard led Faith through the hallways to the exit, where the two men from the Council were already waiting.

'Yes, free. But remember, this is the last chance. If you mess things up, you'll go back to jail, or…'

'Or you'll kill me. I understand. But I don't think that I'm that welcome in Sunnydale. I'm sure they won't believe me, when I tell them I got out of jail.'

'Don't worry about that. Quentin Travers will call Mr. Giles, who will be your new watcher.'

The two men from the Council took Faith to the bus station and gave her a ticket for a bus to Sunnydale, with a warning that they would know, if she ran away. Nodding warily, Faith stepped onto the bus and sat down on a seat, resting her head against a window.

'But why don't you just call a new Slayer?'

'That's simple. We thought that it is easier to deal with one Slayer instead with two and since you already have some experience in slaying, we decided to give you a second chance. I'm sure that the strength of the new Slayer has already been activated, but to be honest, we don't know who she is and we won't look for her. Just if we somehow find her through coincident, we will call her.'

~*~

Trunks rummaged through the ruins of his time machine, searching for something that could help him to find out how he got here, wherever that was, and how he could get back. But he didn't find anything, so he just hoped that he could still turn the rests of the machine into a capsule, so that no one would find them. He again looked through the pieces of the time machine and soon found the piece he had been looking for. A plate with the button, which would encapsulize the machine. He raised his eyes to the sky, hoping against hope that it would work. He pushed the button and much to his relief all the shattered pieces of metal were in not even a second in a capsule. "Good. What shall I do now? I think the best is to find out were I am. But not before…" he mumbled. He looked at his wristwatch and saw that it was intact and then he programmed the coordinates of the place where he crashed and took off into the sky, careful to not to be seen by someone.

~*~

When Dawn slowly climbed down the tower, she saw Buffy's lifeless body lying on the ground and noticed that everyone was slowly walking towards it. Willow and Tara were holding each other tightly, Xander held Anya. Giles walks alone, starting to cry. Behind them Spike also tried to walk forward, but fell, when sunlight hit him. He sat down on the ground and started sobbing, burying his head in his hands.

Dawn was slowly walking up to them, silent tears streaming down her face. Even though she had seen it with her own eyes, she still couldn't believe it. She was numb. So she was a bit surprised, that she suddenly started to feel dizzy. Removing his hands from his face, Spike was the first one to notice that something wasn't right with Dawn and, avoiding the sunlight, he just got to her in time before she hit the ground.

"Dawn!" he shouted and gained the attention of the others, "Dawn! Hey! Call an ambulance! Now! She's lost too much blood."

Willow was the first one who reacted, finally brought out of her stupor. "I'll be right back!" She let go of Tara, turned around and ran to a nearby phone box, calling an ambulance and not even three minutes later she was back. "It will be here in a few minutes. How is she?" She knelt down next to Dawn, but always kept one her on Tara.

"Still unconscious and her pulse is getting weaker. Come on Nibblet," Spike whispered, heartbroken. "Don't die on me. I don't want to lose both of you."

A few minutes later, what seemed like an eternity to the remaining Scoobies, the ambulance arrived and one paramedic took care of Dawn, while the other was looking after Buffy, but he could just certify her death.

"One of you can come with us. We will call the coroner's office," one paramedic told them and looked around.

"I will go with her," Spike said. "Giles, take care of what happens to Buffy when the coroner's here. You others take care of your wounds. I'll meet you at the hospital." He tried to remain as calm as possible, for Dawn, but he felt like he would collapse again soon.

Luckily for the vampire there weren't any windows in the back of the ambulance and the entrance of the hospital was lying in a shadow, so he didn't turn to dust, when they brought Dawn to the hospital.

While the doctors tended to Dawn, they told Spike to wait in the hallway, but he couldn't sit still, so began to pace the, already wishing for the calming effects of one of his beloved cigarettes. Suddenly he heard someone screaming and ran to where the noise came from, being afraid that it was Dawn. But it wasn't her, much to his relief, but another girl, who was struggling against the nurses and doctors around, though she seemed to be unconscious.

"Give her a sedative! Now!" one doctor shouted as he tried to get a hold of this girl.

"But she's too strong! We can't hold her down!" a nurse answered.

"But we have to do something or she will hurt her head more than it already is!" another nurse said.

That alarmed Spike and he ran into the room, holding the girl down with all his strength left and together with his help, they were able to inject a sedative, which calmed the girl immediately down. He offered a weak smile, when the nurses offered their thanks, and returned to pacing in the hall. For one short moment, he had actually been able to keep his thoughts from…

At this moment, the others also finally arrived. They had taken care of their own, superficial wounds, and joined him in the hall. It wasn't an incredible long wait, but still too long for their taste, until a nurse finally came out of the room Immediately all of them stood up, eager for news. "She's awake," the nurse told them. "And she asked for someone called Spike. Is he here?"

"Yes, that's me. Can I go to her?" The nurse nodded at his question and he followed her inside the room, where Dawn was lying, fully awake. "Hey lil'Bit!" he greeted her, forcing a smile.

"Hey Spike! Tell me! How are the others and how's Buffy? Will she be alright?" Dawn asked weakly. There was an IV stuck in her hand and she was pale. He gently wiped a stray strand of hair out of her face, but upon hearing her question, he couldn't hold back his tears anymore.

"I'm sorry," he choked, "but she…"

Dawn shook her head, as if trying to deny that her sister wasn't among them anymore. "No! I thought it was just a dream! She can't be dead! She isn't supposed to die! I should have been the one, not her! No!" Spike hugged her as tightly as he dared, and she buried her face in his shoulder, letting her tears run freely.

"I'm so sorry, Dawn, I'm so sorry," Spike whispered.

One hour later, everyone except for Dawn - the doctors wanted to keep her at the hospital over night - and Spike, who didn't want to leave her side, was gathered at Giles apartment, mostly sitting in silence and lost in their own thoughts and grief, when the telephone rang.

"Hello?" Giles answered the phone. "Yes, it's me. Who's there? … How do you…? Oh, yes, right… You what? … I don't think that was a good idea… Oh, she's already on her way… I am what?… Okay, good. I'll tell the others and prepare everything… Bye."

"Giles? Who was that?" Willow wanted to know.

"Quentin Travers, from the Council," Giles told them. He had taken his glasses of and was now cleaning them in his shirt. The Scoobies knew at once that this wasn't a good sign. "He told me that… how should I say it… Faith is on her way here. She'll arrive here tonight." He put his glasses back on his nose, somehow knowing how the others would react on that news. And he had been correct, as suddenly everyone was talking at once.

~*~

The same day after sunset Trunks returned to the place, where he had crashed with his time machine. After his world-tour he was now sure that he was in a complete different dimension and he still didn't know how he could get back. So he decided that it would be the best to look for a place for the night to stay and started walking through the streets of Sunnydale.

~*~

Faith wasn't sure where to go when she arrived with the bus in Sunnydale. She was still afraid of going to Giles, because she didn't know if they would ever forgive her, for what she had done – she couldn't really blame them. But she knew that what she had done was wrong, even before jail, when she had first arrived in Los Angeles and broke down in Angel's arms after she had tortured Wesley for hours. She wanted to seek for redemption, just like Angel did. That was the reason why she had turned herself in. She really wanted to try to become a better person and with the help of Angel – and hopefully the Scoobies in the future – she hoped that she would become this person she wanted to be.

But it was still hard to go to them and face their accusing glares. So she decided that before she would go to Giles, she would take a small walk, to clear her head. She didn't even notice where she was walking until she suddenly heard some fighting noises. She dropped her bag, took a stake out of her denim jacket and ran into the small alleyway, but when she arrived there, she just gasped. There was a young man fighting a vampire, and he was really good. But he didn't seem to know how to kill it. He just threw the vampire to the ground, when Faith saw another one attacking him from behind.

"Duck!" she shouted and threw her stake over the head of the now ducking Trunks at the other vampire, dusting him.

Trunks looked at the dust with a surprised look on his face, before he turned around to face Faith. "Damn! What was that?" he asked.

At that moment Faith noticed the first vampire getting up again and lunging at Trunks. "Watch out!"

Trunks turned around and kicked him in the stomach. "Hey! Do you have any of those stakes left or are there other ways to kill this thing?"

"That was my last one, but you could cut his head off or burn him."

Trunks raised an eyebrow. "Burn him? Like this?" He stretched his arm out and sent a small ki blast at the vampire. The vampire screamed, when the fire engulfed him and burned him until he was finally nothing more than a tiny pile of dust. "Was that the last one?" he asked, when he turned back to the girl, who had just saved him twice.

"I think so," Faith said confused by his last attack. 'What was that?'

"That was a ki-attack…" But as she only looked at him blankly, he shook his head. "Nevermind My name is Trunks by the way." He extended his hand.

"Faith." She shook his hand. 'Trunks, strange name. And is this just the light, or is his hair really purple?'

He grinned at her. Even in his own world his hair color was a bit unusual. "It's not the light," he simply told her. "Uhm, Faith… Were those two things just vampires or did I just imagine that?"

"It's not your imagination," Faith replied with a smirk, as she used his own tactic.

"Fantastic," Trunks let out a relief sigh. "At least someone who knows about the supernatural. I hope you can help me. I have a slight problem, you know."

"Maybe…" Faith crossed her arms over her chest. "What's your problem?"

"Well," he scratched the back of his head. "Do you know about any dimensional portals which were opened this morning?"

Faith shook her head. "Sorry, but I have no idea. But I know people who might help you. I can bring you to them.."

"Really?" Trunks asked relieved. "That's great. Thank you…"

They didn't talk on their way to Giles' apartment , but still, Trunks's thoughts were centered around this young woman. There was something about her. Her ki was different than that of the other humans he had met on this planet until now. It was higher, a lot higher than the average and there was also a darker touch to it. And he could see it in her eyes – they were old, just like his own.

When they were finally standing in front of the apartment, Faith took a deep breath and knocked at the door and not even five seconds later Giles opened it.

"Hello Giles," Faith greeted him shyly.

"Hello Faith," Giles said and stepped aside to show her to come in. In a town like Sunnydale people learned quickly that it wasn't safe to invite anybody into their home. He still had no idea how to act around her, but her appearance seemed to be so different from the last time he had seen her, so he decided that he should be as friendly as possible towards her. One important thing in a Watcher/Slayer relationship was the trust between them. Faith obeyed hesitatingly and walked through the door. "And, may I ask, who's this young man?" Giles asked, when he spotted the young man standing behind her still in front of the door.

"This is Trunks. I just met him. He needs your help. Something about a dimensional portal." When she turned around, she saw all the others sitting around the table. "Oh, I see. Everyone's here," she said nervously.

"Well, Trunks… Please…" he motioned with his hand inside.

"Thank you, Mr. Giles," Trunks answered politely, as he stepped over the threshold and the door was closed behind him.

"Giles!" Xander suddenly jumped up. "How could you invite him in? He could be a vampire, or a demon! Look at his hair!"

"Xander, calm down," Willow said, her eyes still red and puffy. "Giles has not invited him in. He didn't say it out loud. Besides, he has a good aura. He won't harm us. The same goes for Faith. I can feel that she has changed a lot – for the good."

"Faith, Trunks, why don't you sit down. You can tell us everything then," Giles told them, motioning to some chairs.

Faith gingerly sat down on the couch, with Trunks next to her. She took a deep breath, before she eventually said, "Okay guys… First of all I want to say sorry for everything what I have done to you. I know this isn't enough and I hope I'll earn your trust. And I'm really sorry about Buffy. If I had been there, I would have done everything to prevent it. I swear. But, where's Dawn?" she asked, when she suddenly noticed the absence of the girl.

"She's in the hospital. She lost a lot of blood during our fight with Glory," Giles informed her.

"Okay, okay… then I think I'll see her soon."

"Yes, you will. So, Trunks… Faith told us you need our help."

"I do. Do you know something about a dimensional portal, which was opened this morning?"

Giles looked at him, a shocked expression on his face. "W-why do you ask?"

"Because I came through it. So, do you know something about it?"

"Y-yes, I do. Glory's target was to open a portal, so that she could go back to her home dimension, but that also caused that all the walls between different dimensions and timelines collapsed. But how can we be sure that you really came through one of those portals?"

"He killed a vampire with a strange blast, coming out of the palm of his hand," Faith told her new Watcher. "And look at his hair-color. Who in this dimension does have purple hair?"

"Ah, yes, or course. Trunks, I would be glad if you tell me more about you and your dimension tomorrow. But right now I think it is the best for everyone to go and get some sleep. The last days were really exhausting and then Buffy…"

"Okay, Giles. You're right," Willow said. She looked at the other Scoobies and they nodded. Xander helped Anya up and Willow put her arm around Tara, as she rose from the couch. After a short goodnight, they left the apartment.

"Well, now to you two. One of you can sleep in my guest room and the other one has to sleep on the couch. I'll give you a blanket and a pillow," Giles told them.

"Okay, Faith, you can have the guest room. I'll sleep on the couch," Trunks told her, glad that he didn't have to sleep outside.


	3. The New Slayer?

**Chapter 2: The new Slayer?**

It had already been one week since Buffy died and Faith and Trunks appeared in Sunnydale. Buffy's funeral had been four days ago. It had rained the whole time as the small funeral had been held. Not many guests had been there - mostly the Scooby gang, Dawn, Spike, Faith and Trunks. Angel, Cordelia and Wesley had come from LA, after Willow had gone there to tell them about Buffy's death.

Dawn had been allowed to leave the hospital the day after they had brought her there and the same day she and Giles tried everything to reach Hank Summers, but his secretary told them that he was on holiday and no one knew where. Because of that, he hadn't been at the funeral and didn't know that his oldest daughter was dead.

During the speech of the minister Willow broke down crying and Tara tried to comfort her. Dawn was standing between Spike and Giles and when she saw Willow, she also broke down. Spike put his arms around her and hugged her gently, trying to remain strong. He had to be strong. He was now the one to protect her. He had promised this to Buffy.

_"Hey. Always knew I'd go down fightin'."  
"I'm counting on you ... to protect her."  
"Till the end of the world. Even if that happens to be tonight."_

Angel had looked over to where Spike comforted Dawn and frowned. He didn't like the fact that Spike was the one who she seemed to trust more than anyone else at all. He had then looked over to Giles. He was always like a father for Buffy. A person she could always trust, with everything. The man, who had helped her after the death of her mother. She always kept him on the trot, but now he had lost her. But Angel was glad that the Council decided to give Faith a second chance and made Giles her new Watcher – Faith could now finally start a new life and Giles had a new duty. Next to Faith stood this new guy - Trunks. Angel didn't have much time to talk to him, but he got to know that this young man came through one of the portals Glory had opened from another dimension and that the Scoobies were now trying to help him to find a way back home. In return for that he helped them with slaying and finding a way to resurrect Buffy, and from what Giles had told Angel, Trunks was pretty strong. Way stronger than a Slayer and he guessed that this guy didn't even show his true strength.

Angel, Cordy and Wesley had left almost directly after the funeral, because Gunn called them, due to an emergency in LA.

After the funeral Dawn had insisted that Spike, Faith and Trunks should live with her. She told Spike to sleep in her mother's old bedroom and Trunks and Faith should use the two guestrooms in the house. They had all complained at first, but after Dawn had said that she would feel safer with three strong people in the house, they had agreed. For the following nights, Faith, Spike and Trunks were taking turns in patrolling, so that at least there was always one person with Dawn.

~*~

Trunks and Vegeta had just finished sparring, as Trunks left the gravity room. He walked to the backyard of their house and sat down, taking a sip from his water bottle. He put the bottle down and laid back, watching the night sky. _Pan's already missing for seven days. And it's my fault. Why didn't I see earlier what she feels for me? It wouldn't have changed anything between me and Marron, but I could have at least talked to Pan._

"Watcha thinking of?" Bra asked as she sat down next to him.

"Huh? Nothing."

"Trunks, do you really think I can't see that you're worried about Pan? We all are worried. But we also know that she's a big girl and a strong fighter. God, she can even go to ascended Super Saiyajin. So, she can take care of herself until we find a way to bring her back, trust me."

Trunk sighed. "I so hope that you're right…"

~*~

"Her heartbeat is steady and her wounds are healing well. But she has been in the coma for one week and I doubt that she will ever wake up again," Pan heard a male voice saying over a steady beeping next to her.

"Are you sure doctor?" a female voice asked.

"Yes, the injury at her head was really bad and she has lost a lot of blood. She could have a brain damage. But I still wonder how she could still be alive, when the woman called the ambulance."

She then heard how the two people left the room and she could only hear the beeping.

_What were they talking about? Ouch, my head. Let's see… is everything still there? Toes… check, legs… check, arms… check, hands… check. Everything's seems to be still there._ She slowly opened her eyes, and the glaring light first blinded her, but her eyes quickly adjusted to it. She tried to get up, but noticed that she couldn't lift her arms and legs. _What the…_ She slowly raised her head and saw that her arms and legs were tied at the bed. Moaning she laid her head back on the pillow.

Alarmed by the moaning, a nurse entered the room and was shocked, when she saw that the dark-haired girl in the bed was awake. "Doctor! Doctor!"

"Yes, what's up?" a doctor appeared in the doorframe.

"She's awake."

"What?" the doctor looked at the bed and saw what the nurse had seen. He then walked up to the bed and took a seat next to it. "Hello? How are you feeling?" he asked while he examined her.

"My head hurts a bit, but otherwise I think that I'm okay," she answered weakly.

"Do you remember what has happened?" the doctor wanted to know, but the girl shook her head. "What is your name?"

"I'm…" Pan looked thoughtful and then she got a look of shock on her face. "I don't know."

~*~

"Nibblet, Faith, I'm going now!" Spike shouted through the house.

"Okay Spike! But be careful!" Dawn said as she and Faith came out of the living room. Trunks was at Giles' apartment to do some research about portals.

"I'm always careful! Oh, and Faith, please take care that Dawn gets to bed in time. I know when Trunks is here that she will go to bed, but I'm not sure what you're planning."

"Spike, you're no fun," Faith said pouting. "And I just wanted to call a few cute boys over so that our little Dawnie here and I could make a party when both men of the house aren't there."

That caused Dawn to chuckle a bit and Faith and Spike smiled at each other. This was the first time in the last week that Dawn seemed to lighten up a bit.

"Okay then, goodnight! I see you two tomorrow!" Spike waved and left the house.

~*~

Pan was now awake for a few hours already and she was feeling better and stronger minute by minute. In that time she had repeated the conversation between her and the doctor over and over again.

"You really don't remember your name?" the doctor had asked again.

"No… I don't remember anything of my past. I don't even know how I got here." Pan had felt tears in her eyes, but something told her not to show them.

"A woman saw you falling from a roof and you hit your head hard. That hit must have caused the amnesia. But you're lucky…"

"Lucky? I'm in a hospital and don't remember anything about me! So how can you call me lucky?"

"First of all, you've survived, and secondly you had this friendship-bracelet at your wrist." He had picked it from the table and shown her what was written on it.

"For Pan," she read out loud. "Pan? Is that me?"

"Well, we guess that's your name. During the last week we made a call over the TV and over the newspapers about you, but I'm sorry to tell you that no one has called us."

"Oh… uhm, one question. Why did you tie me at the bed? It's really annoying, you know?"

"Trust me. It's for your own safety, that you won't hurt yourself," he had said as he had patted her hand and left the room, letting Pan lying there alone.

_Great, they probably think that I'm suicidal or something like that,_ Pan thought sarcastically and looked at the watch at the wall. _10pm__ and I'm not even tired. My head doesn't hurt anymore, my back is itching and I'm hungry,_ she whined inwardly. _I don't know why they'll keep me here. I just wished I could get out of here._ She laid back in complete silence and tried to listen if anyone was near. When she made sure that there wasn't anyone, she collected all of her strength in her arms and tore the belts, which held her arms down, apart. She glanced at the straps, surprised that it had been that easy. Pan carefully sat up and was glad that the world around her didn't begin to spin. She then untied her legs and ripped of the cables from the monitors and the tube in her hand and got out of the bed.

She looked around the room, searching for some clothes and soon she spotted some neatly folded on a chair. She lifted them up and found an orange bandana, a red tight shirt, gray baggy pants and red sneakers. She disposed the hospital gown, tried them on and they fit. Apparently those clothes were hers. She then looked at the bandana in her hand. _Why do I have this feeling that this is somehow important to me?_ she thought and walked to a nearby mirror in the room to remove the bandage around her head to replace it by the bandana. _So, that's how I look like. Not bad._ She smiled. Before she left the room, she picked up the bracelet and put it around her wrist. It was time to go.

Pan carefully opened the door and sneaked outside. She looked around and spotted an exit-sign at the wall. She looked around one more time, before she then walked down the hallway. Pan was almost outside, when she heard the familiar voice of the doctor and she quickly hid behind a wall, waiting for him to pass by. She sighed with relief, when she could hear the voice fading and then walked to the exit. As soon as she was on the outside, she walked away from the hospital at a normal pace, but with the distance growing, she became faster and faster, finally she just ran without looking back for she didn't know how long and where until she stopped, panting and leaned against a gate.

_Great? Where am I now?_ Pan looked around and shrugged. It looked like a cemetery. She tossed herself from the wall and walked slowly through the cemetery, not really paying attention to her environment. She just kept walking, until, she didn't know why, a gravestone gained her attention.

BUFFY ANNE SUMMERS  
1981 - 2001  
BELOVED SISTER  
DEVOTED FRIEND  
SHE SAVED THE WORLD  
A LOT.

"What does that mean? She saved the world, a lot?"

~*~

A nurse was running through the corridors of the hospital, looking for the doctor. She had just been in Pan's room, to check her vital functions, as she discovered that the girl and her clothes were gone. "Doctor! Doctor! She's gone!"

"What? Who?"

"The girl, with the amnesia! She isn't in her room anymore!"

~*~

"I would go home if I were you. It's not safe here." Pan, startled by the voice, spun around and got instinctively into a fighting stance. "Hey, calm down! I don't want to hurt you, luv," the blond man said.

Pan got out of the fighting stance but still didn't take her gaze from this man. "Who are you?"

"I'm Spike," he told her, when he walked past her and laid a bunch of flowers on the grave.

"Did you know her?"

"Yes I did," Spike answered sadly. "And who are you?"

"My name is Pan, I think," she said thoughtfully.

Spike raised an eyebrow at her. "You think?"

"Yeah, you must know I bumped my head last week, was in coma for seven days, didn't remember anything as I woke up and just escaped from the hospital," Pan told him matter-of-factly.

"You wh… Look out!" he shouted and tossed her aside as a vampire attacked her. Spike managed to stake him without any problems, but when he turned around, they were surrounded by about six vampires. "Bloody Hell!"

Pan got up again and was now standing next to Spike. "What are these guys?"

"Those are vampires. Stay back, I'll take care of them."

"Okay."

The vampires didn't wait any longer and attacked. Spike lunged forward and tried to get the attention of all of them, but he didn't succeed. While he was fighting three of them, the other three attacked Pan. "Hey! Stay away from her! I'm hard enough to handle for you six! Ouch!" he winced in pain, when the boot of one vampire connected with his jaw. He fell to the ground and as he got up, he was about to run over to Pan, but much to his surprise, she was able to handle those three vamps. "What the…?" One vamp kicked him in his gut, but he managed to grab his leg and twisted it. The vampire fell to the ground and Spike staked him. "One down, five to go."

At that moment, Pan picked up a branch and tossed it into the heart of one vampire who attacked her. Before he could notice, he was dust. "Wow! This works!" She noticed Spike staring at her in shock, but both were soon distracted by the rest of the vampires. Shortly after Spike finished off the last two vamps on his side, Pan dusted the last one on her side.

"Hey, that felt… good," she said as she was walking back to him and she noticed that he was still staring at her.

"Where did you learn that?" he asked.

"What? The fighting? I don't know. Remember? Amnesia." She pointed at her head. "I guess I just can do it." There was another pause of silence and Spike was still staring at her. "Hey, can you please stop the staring. It makes me nervous."

"Oh, sorry…" He stopped the staring, but was still eyeing her. "You must be her…"

"Her? Who's her? Spike, stop talking in riddles, please."

"I recognize you. You're the girl I saw at the hospital one week ago. You were struggling and the doctors had to give you a sedative, so that you wouldn't hurt yourself. But you were too strong for them alone, even though you were unconscious, so I helped them to hold you down. And when did you say you woke up from the coma?"

"Just a few hours ago, why do you ask?"

Spike began to mumble and pacing. "Just a few hours ago and she's already that strong that she can kill three vampires. She must be the one."

"Spike!"

He stopped pacing and walked now up to her. "You must be the new Slayer."

"The what?!"


	4. The Lie

**Chapter 3: The Lie**

Now Pan was completely confused. This man, a stranger, who was apparently pretty strong, was talking in riddles, and even though she didn't remember everything past the last few hours of her life, she was pretty sure that when there was one thing she hated, then it was riddles. And even weirder was the situation they had just found themselves in. If she didn't know better, if the one spot on her arm, where one of the vampires had hit her didn't hurt a little, she would be pretty sure that she was dreaming. Come on, everyone knew that vampires didn't exist! And yet, she and this Spike-guy had just killed seven of them. And then there was this Slayer-business, whatever that was. This night was proving to become even more confusing with each passing minute.

"The Slayer," Spike eventually repeated, looking at her strangely, almost a bit disappointed and worried.

At least he had finally stopped pacing, even though this look in his eyes was making her feel slightly uncomfortable. But he still hadn't answered her question, so she crossed her arms in front of her chest and almost growled, "What the hell is a Slayer?"

Apparently surprised by her reaction, Spike shook his head and then, after having taken a deep breath spoke as if he had learned the following explanation by heart, which he probably had, as Pan would later notice, "In every generation there is a Chosen One. She alone will stand against the vampires, the demons and the forces of darkness. She is the Slayer."

Swallowing hard, Pan tried to understand what he had just told her and, in the end simply gave up and asked him with a slight grin on her face, "Did you learn that by heart?"

"Actually…" He hesitated a moment, before he, too, allowed a small sheepish grin on his face, "yes, I did."

"I thought so, because, honestly? I still don't have the foggiest idea what you're talking about. As far as I know, you're probably telling this every girl you meet in a cemetery to flatter her. Or maybe to scare her away?" Pan took a careful step backwards, tightening her grip on the wooden branch, she still held in her hand.

"Pan, listen…" Spike took a step forward. "I know this is probably a bit overwhelming, but what I just told you is a prophecy, made thousands of years go, at a time when demons still walked the world freely. The Slayer is a girl with some extra skills, like enhanced strength and senses. When one Slayer dies," a flash of Buffy lying motionless at the bottom of the tower shot through his head, and he had to close his eyes for a short moment before he continued, "a new one is called. The last Slayer, the girl in this grave, died a few days ago, and after having seen you fight those vamps, I'd say that you're the new Slayer. I mean, you're obviously pretty strong, you know how to fight, being able to kill three vampires almost directly after you woke up from a coma. Just a Slayer is able to perform a stunt like that."

"O-okay…" Pan answered, shocked, shaking her head. Her mind was running wild. She? A Slayer? She didn't even know, _who_ she was and now this guy wanted her to believe that she was this mystical warrior? There had to be some other explanation of her strength – being able to fight could be explained with karate lessons or something like that before… before she lost her memories. "And how do we find out if you're right?"

Spike smirked at her and put a hand on her shoulder. "We'll go to a friend."

~*~

"Dawn, please go to bed now!" Faith almost pleaded, as she stood in the doorframe to the living room and Dawn was lying on the couch. She rolled her eyes, when she noticed the tone of her voice, and wondered just when she, the rogue Slayer, had become such a pathetic excuse for a babysitter.

"Aw, come on Faith, just ten more minutes! Please!" Dawn begged, making her already big eyes looking even bigger and even more innocent.

Faith really hated it, when Dawn made that face – she, Spike and Trunks were always falling for Dawn's infamous puppy-dog-eyes, but this time, this time she swore that she would stay strong and resist this look. "No way!" She shook her head and crossed her arms, almost instinctively putting equal weight on both of her feet. This time she wouldn't budge. "I promised to Spike that you would get to bed in time. And in time meant half an hour ago. So, shut off the TV and go to your room. Light out in ten minutes!" Inwardly, Faith cringed at her last words – they reminded her too much of her time in prison, but didn't let it show.

"Oh, come on, Faith…" Dawn whined. "Just until the news are over, okay?"

With a heavy sigh, Faith let her arms fall to her sides and sat down next to Dawn on the couch. "Okay, just the news. And then you go to bed."

Dawn squealed in delight and Faith had to suppress a grin. Slowly, Dawn was coming out of her shell and if Faith was going to get into a bit of trouble with Spike and Trunks because of this, well, it would be worth it. Turning her full attention to the news, she first now caught on to what the newsreader was talking about.

"… this girl is missing for about one hour. She escaped from the hospital and it could be that she needs professional help, because she just woke up from a coma. If you see her, please call …" the newsreader continued to announce the telephone number on the TV, but Dawn didn't listen anymore - she just stared at the photo shown on the screen, which was taken from a doctor, so that they could look for the girl's parents or any other relatives or friends.

"I know her…" the girl said thoughtfully.

Faith looked at her, with a confused frown creasing her forehead. "What do you mean? Is she going to the same school as you or…?"

"No," Dawn interrupted her. "I saw her in the hospital, when they let me go. She was in the room next to me. I overheard as some nurses talked about her. They said that she has fallen, or maybe even jumped, from a roof and has been in coma since then."

"And now she woke up and ran away. This sounds somewhat familiar…" Faith muttered sarcastically.

~*~

"And where are we now?" Pan asked annoyed, when they were finally standing in front of a door after they walked through half of Sunnydale. She and Spike hadn't talked much during their walk, or rather, she hadn't been talking much. Spike had told her a few things about Slayers in general and also a bit about the last Slayer, Buffy, the one whose death had probably activated her – if she really was a Slayer, like Spike thought. All of this still sounded incredible, but a small nagging voice in the back of her mind told her that she used to know about the supernatural aspects of the world. However, the longer the walk took, the crankier she got. She was slowly growing tired again and was still hungry.

"This is Giles' apartment," Spike explained, as he knocked at the door. Pan recognized the name – this Giles had been the Watcher of the previous Slayer. Her first question, when the word 'Watcher' had fallen, had been, if the job of the Watcher was to watch the Slayer slay and Spike's answer had just been a grin, accompanied with, "That's one part of his job description."

It took only a short time until the door was answered, and a yawning Giles appeared in the doorway. It didn't escape Pan's eyes that the Watcher was holding a pointy knife in his hands. But when he saw, who it was, the knife disappeared again in the Watcher's sleeve.

"Spike… What are you doing here?" the Watcher asked sleepily, but suddenly became more alert. "Did something happen to Dawn or to Faith?"

Spike shook his head and Pan saw that the older man relaxed visibly. "No, they are okay… Tell me, were you sleeping, because you look, how should I say… sleepy?"

"I wasn't sleeping," he explained, as he stepped aside to allow Spike inside. "Trunks and I were still doing some research to find a way how for him to get back." Giles yawned once again, as Spike stepped past him, and first then spotted the dark haired girl still lingering in the doorway. "Spike… Who's this?"

"Who?" Spike looked over his shoulder, and Pan was slowly growing even more annoyed with him. Had all the peroxide on his head somehow damaged his brain that he had forgotten her already? "Oh, her. Her name is Pan… And Rupert, I know you probably won't like this, but I think she's the new Slayer."

"Dear Lord." Shock registered on the man's face and Pan began to fidget uncomfortably under his scrutinizing gaze. "The new Slayer you say?"

Thinking that it maybe should be her turn now to say something, Pan took a step forward and tried to look into the Watcher's eyes. "I was attacked by some vampires and did pretty well against them, that's why Spike thinks I'm the new Slayer. He says that I'm strong enough, I'm fighting like one and that my healing abilities are the ones of a Slayer. But he also said that you could find out, if this is really true."

"O-of course," Giles again took a step inside, as he wordlessly invited her inside. However, as soon as the door was closed behind them, his glasses were in his hands and he was cleaning them without even noticing it.

Once his glasses were again sitting on his nose, Giles lead them into the area of the living room. Books were spread all over the coffee table and the couch. It really looked like a research party, Pan thought, as she gazed around. But hadn't Giles been saying something about a trunk? Pan could barely finish her thought, as a young man with lilac colored hair came out of the kitchen, holding two mugs in his hands. When the young man's eyes landed on them, they immediately grew worried. "Oh, hey Spike! What are you doing here! Is everything okay with the girls?"

"Hey Boxer Boy," Spike greeted him with the nickname, he had given him after he found out his real name. "Don't worry… Faith and the Bit are okay." And then, nodding to the girl next to him, he said, "This is Pan."

"Hey Pan," Trunks greeted her, as he put the mugs on the table. Once his hands were free, he took Pan's and shook it gently. "Nice to meet you. I'm Trunks, even though Spike likes to call me Boxer Boy. Are you one of the Scoobies I haven't had the pleasure to meet yet? Or are you part of the Fang Gang?"

At the same time, as Pan mouthed to Spike 'Scoobies?' and 'Fang Gang', Giles shook his head. "No, she isn't. Spike believes that she's the new Slayer."

"He does?" Trunks asked confused. "But shouldn't you know, whether you're the Slayer or not?"

Pan shrugged, not meeting his gaze. "I don't know… and even if I did, I probably wouldn't remember…"

"Why wouldn't you remember, Pan?" Giles asked softly. He saw that this poor girl was most likely overwhelmed by the happenings of that night and she also looked pretty exhausted.

Shrugging again, she explained, "I had an… accident… a few days ago. The doctors said I fell from a roof and hit my head pretty hard. I just woke up today and I can't remember anything of my past. So even if I knew before that I am the Slayer, I wouldn't remember it."

"I'm sorry," Trunks said and suddenly stood next to her, squeezing her shoulder. She looked up and met his worried blue eyes. "This has to be horrible."

For the third time in maybe just as many minutes, Pan shrugged. "It's okay… Really, I'm fine… Actually, I'm just a bit hungry…" As if to prove her point, her stomach suddenly rumbled loudly.

Giving the girl a comforting smile, Giles said, "I believe this can be helped. I don't have much, but there's still some of the pizza left that Trunks and I ordered tonight, if that's okay."

"Pizza sounds great."

"Very well… would you also like something to drink?"

"Yes, some water, please," Pan answered politely.

"What about you, Spike? There's still some blood in the fridge," Giles offered.

"Thanks, Rupes… You know how I like my blood."

When Giles had disappeared in the kitchen, Pan could only stare at Spike and took a step away from him, immediately tensing up. "Wait a minute…" she said hesitantly. "Do you really drink blood? I always thought that just vampires drink blood." Her eyes were already wandering around, looking for something that can be used as stake, while something in her mind told her that, if he had wanted to kill her, he could have done so about a thousands times before. And hadn't he fought with her against those other vampires?

"Well luv, 'm a vampire," Spike told her, carefully eyeing the girl.

"But don't worry," Trunks added, seeing the fear and confusion in the girl's eyes. "He won't hurt us."

"Yeah, some wanna-be soldiers put a chip in my head, which gives me a splitting headache every time I hurt humans and now I got this drive to do good things and protect people," the vampire told her, as Giles came back with a glass of water and the pizza for Pan and _Spike's_ "Kiss the Librarian" mug filled with warm blood.

"So, Pan," Giles said, as they all had settled down on the couch and armchairs around the coffee table. "Can you please tell me everything that has happened to you in the last days? And then I will call the Council, to see if you're really the Slayer."

"Okay…" Pan said and took a deep breath, before she began her exhausting tale. The whole time, Trunks's hand was resting on her shoulder to support her.

After Pan had told them everything she knew, what really wasn't that much, Giles nodded in understanding. Taking off his glasses again to clean them, he said, "I-I think that Spike was right. Everything speaks for you being the new Slayer. And the time is also right… Buffy died one week ago, and then everything with you began. I'll call the Council now, to ask them. And then, when we'll hopefully have some answers, we take it from there. I'll be back in a moment."

Giles got up from the armchair and, taking his phone, went into the other room, so that he could speak without being disturbed. It was almost midnight here in Sunnydale, so it should be nearly eight o'clock in the morning in London. But Giles didn't care if it was still early – he needed answers, and he needed them now.

After having dialed the number, it took about half a minute before someone answered in London. "Yes, hello? This is Rupert Giles. I would like to speak to Quentin Travers… It's of utmost importance…. Thank you." Pinching the bridge of his nose, Giles waited to be connected.

~*~

"I guess that must be really hard for you – I mean not knowing who you are, or where you're from…." Trunks assumed, nipping at his cup of coffee.

"Yes, I guess so," Pan answered this unexpected question after a moment's hesitation. "But I think that I must have had a reason for falling off this roof, and when I've understood the doctors right, they assume that I jumped on purpose. And I really don't want to know what has driven me to this act. So, now I can start a new life, even if it is slaying vampires, but it is a new life. And maybe my memories will come back one day, I don't know. But now I want to know everything about you. Mr. Giles said something about you searching a way to get back? Back where?"

Trunks grinned at her, knowing that his answer would most-likely astound her. "You're right. I'm looking about a way back to my own dimension." Just as expected, her eyes widened considerably and he chuckled. "You heard right. That night, when Buffy, the other Slayer, died, several portals to different dimensions were opened and unfortunately one of those portals swallowed me. And that's why I'm looking for a way back. So yeah, that's my story," he laughed, scratching the back of his head – a habit he had picked up from Gohan, when he had still been alive. "That's also the reason why my hair is lavender. In my dimension the people have all kind of hair-colors. But that's not all. I'm also half-alien."

This time, Pan's jaw really hit the floor, as her eyes widened even more, if that was even possible. "Wow," she whispered. "Vampires, aliens, and little poor me right in the middle. At least," Pan suddenly smirked, quickly getting over the shock, "when I'm really the Slayer, I won't be the only normal person anymore."

~*~

"Mr. Travers? There's Mr. Giles for you on line one," a female voice said through the speaker on Quentin Travers' telephone.

"Thank you, please put the call through. … Ah, Rupert. How nice to hear from you. Are there any problems with Faith? … No? … Then, pray tell, why are you calling my at this early hour?... I see, you think you found Miss Summers' successor? Are you sure? … What is the girl's name? … Pan? Oh, and she has lost her memory… That's not good… You see, Rupert, it's not a coincidence that this girl is in Sunnydale. Even before Miss Summers' death, the Council sent one of the Potentials to Sunnydale with some more information about Glorificus, but as you know, she must have been too late. Actually, we were wondering why she hadn't made contact with us, yet, but now we know why... I know, Rupert, it was irresponsible to send her without a Watcher, but we had none to spare. And do you honestly believe that Miss Summers would have talked to us over the phone?... Now, what to do about the new Slayer… it is of course quite a surprise that this girl has been called, but it was not our decision to make, as you very well know, Rupert… No, Rupert, I don't think I will tell you anything about this girl. I believe it is better when she remembers it on her own and it could happen that you let something slip. … Yes, I really think that's the best we can do. … Alright Rupert, you'll take care of her and train her. Thank you… Goodbye." Quentin Travers hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair, facing the young blond man in front of him.

"Mr. Travers, what was that about? I thought that you wouldn't call another Slayer," he wanted to know.

"Oh, Stevenson, she isn't a Slayer, even though she fulfils the standards of one. I don't know a thing about this girl he was talking about, but let them think that she is the Slayer - she could be a great help and so they won't stumble over our little secret," Travers explained with a smirk on his face, while he was gazing through the open door into the room next to his office, where he could see a small figure lying in the bed. "I think we should begin to train her tomorrow, or what do you think?"

"I don't know, isn't she a bit too young for this…?" Stevenson asked worriedly.

"Even if she's just seven years old today, tomorrow she will turn eight. And you can never begin too early to train someone as special as her."

~*~

Giles came back into his living room and found his three guests talking and laughing. He cleared his throat and immediately found all three of them looking at him. "I'm sorry to interrupt you, but I just talked to Quentin Travers of the Council."

All laughter disappeared from their faces and Pan wrung her hands nervously. Did she really want to know? "So?" she eventually asked. "What did he say?"

"He said that you're indeed the new Slayer. As a matter of fact, before you were called, you were a Potential Slayer trained by the Council, and they sent you to Sunnydale with some information about Glory. However, that's all he told me about you. He thought it would be for the best to find out on your own, who you are."

"Great," she spat, "and what if my memories don't want to come back?" Pan was annoyed. She had hoped that, if she really was the Slayer, the guys from this Council could at least tell her something about her past or her family.

"I guess we should wait a few weeks, and then we can call the Council again. Maybe they're more willing to tell us something about you, when they see that you won't get your memories back otherwise," Giles offered, seeing how upset this young girl was. He could've strangled Travers at that moment, and blown up the whole Council on top off that. To them the Slayer really was no more than a tool – everything that Buffy had told them just a few short weeks ago about who was really in charge already forgotten. Maybe something should be done to remind them of this.

"Okay, thank you, Mr. Giles…" Pan tore him out of his thoughts and he smiled at her, as he gently corrected,

"Just Giles, everyone calls me simply Giles."

"Fine… Giles," she added as an afterthought, as if to remember how to call her new Watcher in the future. "Do you mind if I stay here tonight? As you know I have nowhere else to go. I could sleep on the couch."

"Of course you can stay. But you will of course sleep in my guest room," Giles told her.

"Thank you," she said, as she hugged the surprised Watcher and the two young men chuckled. "Could someone then please show me to my room? You have no idea how exhausted I am and I really want to sleep."

"Of course, Pan. I'll show you the room in a moment. Trunks, I think we should also call it a night then. It has been rather… exciting," Giles suggested and looked at Trunks and Spike, who nodded and got up.

"Okay. See you tomorrow, Giles, Pan!" Trunks waved and walked through the door, followed by Spike.

"Bye Rupert and take care of the new girl!"

"Good night, guys!" Pan shouted, when they left.

~*~

When Trunks and Spike entered the house on 1630 Revello Drive, Faith was lying on the couch, watching TV. It was again time for the news and they showed again the search report for the missing girl.

"… and I repeat, the girl just woke up from a coma a few hours ago. That means she's totally weak and helpless…"

"Weak and helpless my arse," Spike said and Faith jumped startled from the couch.

"Spike! Damn it! You scared the hell outta me! Be glad that I didn't stake you!" Faith yelled, however, she then realized what Spike had said. "But, what are you talking about? She isn't helpless or weak? Why?"

"Would you call someone that, who killed three vampires in front of your eyes?"

"Huh?" Faith was confused. What could he mean by that?

Spike and Trunks looked at each other and shrugged, before they sat down and explained everything that had happened in the last few hours to Faith.

"Wow," she said at last, when Spike and Trunks had finished their story. "The Council told me that they wouldn't look for her, so I haven't been thinking about ever meeting her." Then, slowly, a grin crept onto her face and she rubbed her hands. "But it will be fun to have another Slayer around."


	5. Getting To Know

**Chapter 4: Getting to know**

"Morning Trunks!" Dawn shouted as she ran down the stairs into the kitchen, where Trunks was sitting at the table.

"Morning Dawn… Toast?" the half-Saiyajin offered her.

"Two, please." She walked over to the fridge, took out the orange juice and filled her glass, while Trunks was now walking to the toaster, with two pieces of toast in his hand and a smile on his face. After one week of living at 1630 Revello, Trunks already felt like he was home. Everyone simply accepted him, apparently sincerely liking him, and tried to help him. It was almost as if he had, overnight, gained a whole new family – because that's what the Scooby Gang was, a family, with Dawn being much like the sister he never had.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, when he handed her the toast two minutes later. The cheerful jingle from the toaster behind him was just finishing playing and Trunks still had to grin whenever looking at the toast, because the toaster burned the face of Mickey Mouse on the bread.

"Better than the last nights," she admitted with a sad smile, but quickly recovered, as she asked, "By the way, where are Faith and Spike?"

"They are already at the Magic Box. We will also go there straight after breakfast. There will be someone you have to meet," he explained, carefully choosing his words. He had no idea how the teenager would react to find out that they – or rather Spike – had found the new Slayer, the one that was just called because of her sister's death.

"Really? Who?" She put the knife down, after covering Mickey's face with jam, and took a sip of her orange juice.

He took a deep breath. Should he really tell her? Well, she would find out eventually, so why not now? Then she would still have some time to adjust to the thought and most likely wouldn't blow up in front of Pan. "Last night, while patrolling, Spike found the new Slayer." Dawn almost spit her orange juice over the table, when Trunks told her that. "Her name is Pan, but she has lost her memory. Giles talked to the Council, and they told him, that she's the one, but they didn't want to tell him anything about her, because they thought it would be better, if she finds out on herself."

"Wait a minute. Did you just say she lost her memory? Is she the girl, who escaped from the hospital?" Dawn was now getting curious about the girl, who should be the Slayer after her sister. Sure, she was a bit shocked by this revelation, but she had known that there would be one girl who would have the same calling like her sister had.

"As a matter of fact, she is." Trunks couldn't stop thinking about that girl he just met one night before. When he saw her, it felt like a déja-vu. Something about her felt familiar, but he couldn't say what.

"Cool. Is she strong?"

He looked at her, obviously confused. What? No throwing a tantrum, starting screaming or something like that? He smiled at the thought of how well Dawn took the news – he hadn't known her before Buffy's death, but he had heard that she had been quite a brat then; it was strange how much one could change in the course of a few days - and continued, "I don't know. I didn't see her fight, but Spike told us that she already killed three vampires when they met. And her ki-level is as high as Faith's."

"Ki-what?" Dawn asked bewildered.

"Her ki-level. I'll explain that on the way. Have you finished?" Trunks wanted to know, when he saw the empty plate and glass in front of face. Dawn nodded. "Great, then let's get to the Magic Box. We don't want to let the others wait any longer."

~*~

"Hello everyone!" Dawn exclaimed, when she stormed into Giles' magic shop, followed by Trunks. "And? Where's she?" she asked excitedly.

"Hi Dawnster! She's in the training room, together with Faith. Faith wanted to test her out," Xander told her, immediately knowing, who Dawn was referring to. He also already had the pleasure to meet the probably newest member of the Scooby Gang and he really started to like her.

"And? How is she? I mean, is she nice?"

"I-I like her," Tara said.

"Yeah, me too. She has such a warm and carefree aura around her. She's really nice. But I can also feel that she already had gone through much pain," Willow told her.

"You think that was her reason for jumping from the roof?" Anya asked Willow.

"Ahn!" Xander hissed.

"What? I mean, do you really think she just fell? Maybe she didn't want to live anymore. Maybe a boy hurt her and she couldn't deal with it. When it was a boy, I would like to be a vengeance demon again, so that I could show him not to hurt girls like her." The other Scoobies stared at her. "What? I like her!"

Dawn just shrugged and walked to the back of the shop. "Whatever! I will now go and say hi to her."

~*~

"Hey! You're really good," Faith complimented her, when they took a break and sat down on the mat, each holding a bottle of water in their hands. As a matter of fact, Faith was truly impressed by the other girl's abilities. For someone who didn't know anything about her past and having just been called, to have those skills was almost scary.

"Thank you…" Pan blushed a bit, when the other Slayer said this.

"No, really! It almost seems as if you've been fighting since you are able to walk. You must have had a really good teacher…" Faith looked at Pan and saw that her eyes somehow were sad. "Damn… Open mouth, insert foot. I didn't mean to…"

Pan looked up and smiled reassuring at Faith. "Don't worry. I can cope with it. I have the feeling that I've already experienced worse. But I must say, you're strong, too." At this moment, the door to the room was opened carefully and Dawn put her head through the door gap.

"Hey D! Come on in. We just wanted to take a break," Faith said.

"Hi Faith! And I guess, you're Pan. I'm Dawn and it's great to meet you," Dawn said, as she stepped into the room and extended her hand to the new Slayer, when she had reached the two Slayers.

"Hi Dawn. Yeah, I'm Pan. Nice to meet you, too." Pan shook her hand and smiled a bit uncertainly. This was the sister of the previous Slayer after all and the others had already filled her in on the most important things that had happened in the last years. She wouldn't blame Dawn in the least, if the younger girl harbored any unwelcome feelings towards her. However, she didn't need to have worried, as Dawn flashed her a wide smile, which immediately made her feel a bit more comfortable, even though some of the tension was still left.

Faith noticed the tension coming from her fellow Slayer and could understand her too well. It still was a weird feeling to be accepted by the Scoobies after everything she had done to them. Suddenly a mischievous smirk appeared on her face, as she suggested, "Well, girlfriends, I haven an idea. D, what do you think of showing Pan Sunnydale today, including that shopping mall you seem so fond of. If I'm right, Junior Slayer might be in need of some fitting clothes," Faith gestured at the clothes she had borrowed Pan, which were slightly too big for the other girls more boyish body. "And then, tonight, I will give her a tour of Sunny D's cemeteries."

"But, I- I don't have any mon…" Pan was sure that she didn't like shopping, even though she didn't remember it. Something inside of her told her that.

"No buts! Don't think about money, I'm sure Giles will borrow you something and you can pay it back sometime later," Dawn told her.

"Okay, I don't think I have a choice," Pan admitted and Dawn pulled her and Faith to the feet.

"And maybe we could talk Trunks into coming with us. I bet Pan will like that," Faith mentioned with a suggestive smirk and wink, which caught a bright red blush to spread over Pan's face.

"Faith!" the other Slayer exclaimed mortified, burying her red face in the palms of her hands.

However, the older Slayer simply laughed and left the training room. Inside the Magic Box, the other Scoobies looked up, when Faith entered the room, followed by the other two girls. Dawn was grinning and began to giggle, when her eyes landed on Trunks, which made Pan blush even more. But Faith ignored both of them and just smirked, as she stopped in front of the counter, behind which Giles was looking through the receipts of the day before. "You, G-Man…" Giles looked up and glared exasperatedly at Faith for using this hated nickname. "D and I want to show Junior Slayer around and she also needs some clothes… ergo, we need your shiny credit card."

Still glaring, Giles answered matter-of-factly, "You can go showing Pan around, but you won't get my credit card."

"Oh Giles," Dawn, who had now suddenly appeared next to face and was looking at him with wide innocent eyes, whined, "pretty please with a cherry on top."

"Okay, okay," Giles relented upon seeing the puppy-dog eyes and handed Faith his shiny golden credit card, "But don't spend too much money."

"Thanks, G-Man. You know how to make a girl happy." Faith winked at him before turning around and brandishing the credit card. "Hey Boxer Boy! You wanna come with us?"

"No, sorry," Trunks apologized, even though he didn't look the least apologetic. "But I still have to talk to Giles."

"Okay… D, P, you coming?" Faith asked, already walking to the door.

"We're coming!" Dawn shouted back and grabbed Pan by her arm, trying to drag her outside.

"Giles, I promise, I will give you the money back," Pan told him with an apologetic grin, while she was forced towards the door.

"No Pan, you don't have to do that," Giles assured her with smile. "But before you 'hit the mall' I'd suggest you'd stop by the hospital. Tell them to call me, if they have any questions."

"Thank you and we will." Just at this moment, the bell above the door jingled and said door fell shut.

Giles shook his head, while he cleaned the glasses, and then, after having put them back on, turned to Trunks. "You said you wanted to talk to me?"

"Yes, but is it possible to speak in private?"

"Of course, follow me," Giles said and led Trunks to the back of the shop into the training room. There he motioned to Trunks to sit down on the couch and he took the empty seat next to him. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"Well…" He scratched the back of his head, showing a bit of his shyness. "I thought of this since you offered me your help. I want to pay you back and I want to do this in another way than doing research. I want to train Faith, and now Pan. And maybe even Dawn."

Giles took of his glasses and started to clean them again. He was thoughtful for a moment. "I can understand that you want to train Faith and Pan. They're both stronger than me and I don't think that I can teach them more than theory. Training Buffy over the course of the last year showed me that I'm not only human, but also getting older. So this would be a great help. But why do you want to train Dawn? She's just a normal girl and way too young to go slaying…" he asked confused, putting his glasses back on his nose.

"That's where you wrong," Trunks interrupted him. "You must know, as I've been trained, one of the first things I was taught was reading the power level of my opponents. That means knowing how strong they are or how high their ki, their life force, is. And I've noticed that Dawn's ki is higher than the one of normal humans. I know that she is just 'made', but she is made out of the Slayer's blood as far as I understand and with this blood cursing through her veins I know that I can make her stronger. As to the fact that she too young for slaying… Wasn't her sister her age, when she was called and had to kill vampires? Giles, Dawn is a part of this group, and while I haven't known her before the ordeal with Glory, I can safely say that she's one of the most grown-up fifteen years-old I know, and she is also anything but helpless. I think that she can handle it. Of course I have to ask her first, if she wants me to train her and I will just do it when she agrees."

"Well, I think you've got me here..." Giles admitted sheepishly. In the end, he simply sighed. "Alright, I'll allow you to train Dawn, if she wants to. By the way, do you think you can teach Faith and Pan this power level thing?"

"Sure, that shouldn't be a problem."

~*~

Quentin Travers was sitting at his desk, reading some old book, when someone knocked at the door. "Come in! The door is open!"

Inside stepped a bald Asian man, obviously a monk, dressed in red and yellow clothes, followed by the young Watcher Stevenson. "Oh, good morning, Yasuo! I didn't expect you that early," Travers greeted the monk amiably.

"Konnichi wa, Mr. Travers." The monk bowed slightly. "Where is the young girl I shall teach?"

"She's over there. Please follow me." Quentin Travers led the monk to the door of the room next to his office and opened it. "She's still sleeping. Shall I wake her up for you?" he asked. The monk nodded and Travers turned to Stevenson. "Stevenson. Get her ready. The training will start today."

"Alright Mr. Travers," the young Watcher answered and walked over to the young girl in the bed.

"She's pretty strong," the monk told the elderly Watcher, when Travers closed the door behind himself.

"How can you tell already? You don't even know her well enough."

"I can feel her inner energy, her ki. It is pretty high for a girl of her age, and it increases with each passing minute. It will be an honor to teach her how to control this power. It won't take long and she will be the strongest Slayer who has ever lived."

Quentin Travers allowed a small smirk to pass over his face, as he thought that this girl already was the strongest Slayer who had ever lived.

"Uncle Quentin! Uncle Quentin!" the small girl cried, her long blond hair bouncing up and down, while she was running towards to Watcher, and her hazel eyes twinkling.

"Hey little princess! Did you sleep well?" Travers asked smiling, almost compassionately.

The girl nodded. "Yes, but I dreamt about a girl called Dawn, what does that mean?"

"That was a prophetic dream. This girl, Dawn, is your worst enemy. Just in a few months you'll be strong enough to kill her easily. And this man will make you that strong. This is Mr. Yasuo. He will be your teacher," Mr. Travers informed her.

"Hello Mr. Yasuo, nice to meet you," the girl said smiling and the monk bowed in front of her, a motion that the girl mimicked.

"The pleasure is mine."

~*~

The two Slayers and Dawn were just walking out of the hospital and decided that they now wanted to go to the mall. Much to their surprise, Pan didn't have any problems with the doctors. At first they looked a bit confused, when the girl, who had just escaped the night before, was now standing in front of them, telling them that she was alright and that she found a few people who wanted to help her. But the doctors insisted to examine her one last time before deciding to let her go and when they finally came to the surprising result that her wounds were completely healed, they let her go, a bit reluctantly, but she assured them that she would come back, if she had any problems, and left them Giles' number.

~*~

Bra and Marron were at the mall, doing their big shopping, which they did once in a month. But they didn't have the fun they usually had, especially Bra, because there was one person missing.

"Hey Bra! Do you still eat that?" Goten asked, when he saw his girlfriend just picking in her food. The girls had met the boys, that means Trunks and Goten, at the All-You-Can-Eat-Restaurant at the mall.

"Huh? No, you can have it," Bra answered absently, shoving her plate over the table to him.

"Hey hon, what's up with you?" Goten was now worried. A Saiyajin never gave his food away.

"I don't know. I just don't have the fun today I should have. I want Pan to be here, forcing her to try the dress I chose for her last week, one day before she disappeared."

"I thought you were the one who told us that Pan is strong enough to take care of herself," Trunks snapped at her.

"I know! But I miss her and it isn't the same without her here," Bra snapped back and a tear ran down her cheek.

"Sorry Bra," Trunks apologized, running with his hand through his hair. "It's just that I also miss her that much and I would never forgive myself if something happens to her and she won't be able to come home." This information that he should be the one, who had caused all of this, was still weighing heavy on his shoulders. He wasn't even sure what he would do, if they didn't find a way to bring Pan back. But he was sure that his life would never be the same then – he would never again be able to look into Gohan's eyes again.

~*~

Pan was really glad that she could sit down on a bench in the mall. Faith and Dawn had already dragged her from one shop to another for the last two hours and in this time she really remembered that she never liked shopping – a really important memory, as she though ironically. Of all the things that she could remember, it was that she hated shopping. But the best thing was that she not just had to try on dresses or clothes for parties, she also had to try on comfortable and practical clothes for slaying – if it were otherwise she was sure that she would have jumped a second time off that roof.

Just when she began to relax a bit, she already heard her two 'kidnappers' coming to her. "So Pan, what do you think of a short lunch break?"

When Faith said the word lunch, Pan snapped back into reality. "Lunch? Sounds really good!" she said smiling. "Let's go. Where's the food court?"

"It's over there," Dawn told her.

"Okay, come on! I'm starving to death!" Pan whined, when her stomach grumbled.

Not even five minutes later the three girls were seated in the food court, Pan and Faith got each two burgers and French Fries, while Dawn just had one burger. "Wow, shopping makes me almost as hungry as slaying, I tell you!" Faith said, between taking bites of her burger, "But that's also an advantage of being the Slayer. You can eat as much as you want and you won't get fat."

"Really? Cool!" Pan said and took a huge bite from her burger. At least she was now filling one small hole in her stomach. Of course she could eat more, but she was paying the food with Giles' credit card and she didn't want to spend much more money on his costs without being able to pay him back.

The three girls really had fun this afternoon, and Faith really enjoyed it, too. She had never had so much fun when she wasn't slaying. She was really glad that first Angel, then the Council and now the Scoobies gave her a second chance, and she intended to use it. But Faith was also glad that Dawn had fun. That was the first time since Buffy's death that she was that carefree and was smiling almost constantly. And both her and Pan were relieved that Dawn seemed to like the new girl. Pan had truly been afraid that Dawn wouldn't like, accept or maybe even worse, really hated her, because she was the Slayer after Buffy.

The sun was already setting, when they finally got out of the mall. While they were walking Dawn home, Faith and Dawn showed Pan Sunnydale, well the part of Sunnydale that was lying on their way. When they arrived at 1630 Revello drive, Dawn insisted that the two Slayers came inside till the sun had completely set.

At the same moment as Pan and Faith wanted to leave again, Trunks and Spike came home.

"Oh, our three favorite girls are already at home. So, how was shopping?" Spike asked, when they entered the house.

"Great!" Faith answered. "Even though it seems as if Pan doesn't like shopping, but we bought her many many clothes."

Spike raised playfully and eyebrow at the new girl. "A girl who doesn't like shopping? Does that exist?"

"Yes it does," Pan answered, scowling at the vampire, with her arms crossed over her chest. "But the food was great," she added grinning.

At that comment, Trunks began to chuckle involuntary and everyone stared at him. "Sorry, but you just looked exactly like my father and a friend of mine and if I didn't know better, I would say you are either related to one of them or you spent too much time around them."

"I'm sorry to interrupt you," Dawn suddenly said, "but now that you are all here, I want to ask you something." Dawn took a deep breath, when they looked at her. She had thought about this the whole day since she met Pan and thought that this was the right decision. "Pan, I know I just know you for not even ten hours, but I want to ask you to move in with us."

"What? But I thought there weren't any free rooms here," Pan asked confused.

"No, there's still one room free in this house. Buffy's."

"What? No! I won't move into your sister's room. I just can't do that," Pan told her.

"Nibblet, why?" Spike wanted to know.

"See, Giles isn't used to a permanent guest – at least not when he isn't chained up in the bathtub or tied to a chair…"

At Pan's really confused face, Spike just said, "Don't ask."

"Well, whatever and I'm also sure that Pan doesn't even want to be his permanent guest. And I think that it would have been Buffy's wish that her successor, if I like her, would move into her room if necessary. And I like you Pan. Even though I just met you today, you became like a sister to me, like Faith or Trunks and Spike, okay, they are like brothers to me, and I also think that you might need something what's like a family, but to get to the point - do you want to move in with us?" Dawn looked directly into Pan's eyes, almost pleading her to say yes.

"Dawn, I don't know what to say…" Pan was totally unsure of what to do. Sure, this was really a big offer and exactly what she needed. Dawn was right, she didn't want to bother Giles longer than necessary, but could she move into the room that had belonged to a girl, who had just died one week ago?

"Say yes…"

Pan sighed, reluctantly deciding to give in to the teenager, who was right now looking at her with puppy dog eyes. She truly seemed to mean what she said. "Okay, if this is really no problem with you or the others, I think I have no other choice. I'm glad that you already see me as family. That's exactly what I need. Are you okay with it?" she asked the others and they nodded. "Okay, yes."

"I knew you would do it! Thank you!" Dawn squealed and hugged the new Slayer.

"No, I must thank you," the quarter Saiyajin hugged her back.

~*~

Later at patrol, Faith and Pan were hiding behind a few bushes in the cemetery, watching a couple of vampires, obviously waiting for a new vampire to come out of his grave.

"Do you hear what they are talking about?" Pan asked Faith.

"No, they're too far away and besides they are whispering. What do you think, should we attack them now? They are just two, easy to handle."

"Let me do this," Pan said and hid her stake under her denim jacket. "I want to have some fun before." The girl carefully stood up and walked towards the vampires. Faith remained silently behind the bushes, wondering what her fellow-Slayer was up to, but ready to help her, if she got into trouble. This was, after all, the other Slayer's first night out.

"Excuse me, please," the black-haired girl said innocently, when she was near the vampires.

Startled they turned around, facing the girl. "What do you want?" one of them asked her.

"Uhm, I'm new in this city and I think I got kinda lost. Can you maybe help me?" She was now standing directly in front of the taller vampire, who looked at his friend after she had asked that question. The other nodded at him smirking and both turned their attention back to Pan.

"Sure, where do you want to go?" the taller one asked her, licking his lip.

"I've heard there should be a club nearby. Would be nice if you can tell me where I find it," she told him winking.

"I think we could even bring you there," the smaller vampire now said.

"Oh, if you don't mind. But it looked like you were waiting for someone," Pan said, looking around.

"No, we were just taking a walk," the tall vampire lied and put his arm around her shoulder. He noticed that she smelled really good, and on top of that she was pretty. Maybe, he thought, he should turn her. She might be of more use than just for a snack.

A wicked grin appeared on Faith's face, as she realized what Pan was playing at, when she was walking away with the two vampires. She wanted them to leave the grave, so that Faith could take care of the fledgling. Well, it was a bit boring for her, but at least Pan would have some fun at her first slay. She didn't even need to wait long. Just a few minutes after Pan left, the new vampire arose from his grave, but Faith already awaited him and staked him, before he could even stand up straight. "Great, and now let's see how P's doing."

"How long do we have to walk until we get there?" Pan whined, but smirked inwardly. She hadn't known that she was such a good actress.

"Not long, my love, not long. But we will have an eternity," the taller vampire said.

"Huh? Eternity? How do you mean that?" she asked, playing clueless.

"Look, we're here." He suddenly stopped, when they were standing in front of a crypt.

"But that's not the club," Pan stated.

"No, but do you want to see this crypt from the inside. I've heard that there are a few cool skeletons."

"No, but thank you. I don't want to go there." She put on a scared face, hoping that the vampires would buy it.

"What? Are you afraid?" the small one now wanted to know.

"Me? And afraid? Never!" Pan said, playing upset and walked into the crypt. The two vampires looked at each other and followed her. When they were inside, the taller vampire closed the door.

"Wow! Cool! I've never seen a crypt from the inside before!" Pan shouted excitedly as she looked around.

"Yeah? I'm sure you've never seen something like _that_ before," the taller vampire said and both morphed into their game faces.

"What do you… AHHH!" Screaming, Pan played being shocked by the vamps and tried to run away, but stumbled over a stone.

"You first," the tall vamp told the other, "but leave some blood for me."

"Sure," he said and walked towards Pan. He grabbed her by her throat and pushed her against a wall, leaning now with one hand against it, while stroking her neck with the other. "Don't worry darling. At first it will hurt a bit, but later it will feel good."

At the moment the vampire wanted to bite her, Pan pulled out her stake unnoticed by the vamp and tossed it at his heart, dusting him. "Really, did your mommies never tell you to be careful with pointy things?" Pan scolded the other vamp smirking.

"Who-who are you?" the remaining vampire asked, totally stunned by the dusting of his friend.

"I'm Pan…" She ran forward and threw a roundhouse-kick at him, which threw him at another wall. "The Vampire Slayer."

"The …?" He didn't have any time to answer, because Pan already dusted him.

"You were boring, do you know that? But at least I could introduce myself to the undead," Pan said shrugging to no one in particular and left the crypt. On the outside she met Faith.

"Hey, did you kill them?" Faith asked curiously.

"Yeah, but they were too easy. I thought I would have a bit of a challenge," Pan told her somewhat disappointed.

"Oh come on. It was just a slow day. But at least you can say now what we should to next."

"Eating," Pan answered immediately, as her stomach rumbled. "I'm starving."

Faith laughed and put an arm around her shoulder. "Spoken like a true Slayer, P. Now I'm just waiting for the other effect to kick in."

"Which would be?"

Faith just winked at her. "Becoming horny."


	6. Training

**Chapter 5: Training**

The following morning the Scoobies were already gathered at the Magic Box pretty early, seeing as they were all just too curious about Pan's first night of slaying and they couldn't wait to badger Faith to tell them how good Pan really was. Laughter rang through the shop, when Faith told them about Pan's acting skills, which had completely convinced the two vampires that Pan was a weak and defenseless little girl, an easy snack. The Scoobies began to laugh even louder, when Pan added with a pout that the two vampires hadn't even been a real challenge for her.

Soon, the two Slayers were finished with their tale, especially seeing as the two vampires really had been stupid, and it was then that Trunks rose from his chair and cleared his throat. The Scoobies looked at him, a bit confused, but Trunks allowed a small grin on his face to reassure them. However, his voice was serious, as he began to talk. "As you know, I talked to Giles yesterday about an important request I wanted to make, and after he had considered it, he agreed." Trunks hesitated for a moment. He knew that, if he told them that he partly wanted to do this to pay them back for their hospitality, they wouldn't accept his help, so it was better to keep quiet about that. "As you know, I've grown up around martial artists and that I'm one myself, so what I would like to do is offer Faith, Pan and Dawn to train them and teach them all I know about fighting."

"Wicked," Faith whispered with a smirk, which she exchanged with Pan. While the younger girl hadn't seen Trunks in action, yet, something Faith had already had to chance to, she had at least already heard about the Saiyajin's abilities. "I'm in."

"Me, too," Pan quickly agreed. "And thanks… for offering this."

"Hey, it's no problem, really," Trunks told them with a grin on his face. "And what about you, Dawn?"

"I'm not sure…" she answered uncertainly. "I mean, I know my sister was the Slayer, but I'm just me, I'm just Dawn. The only thing that's special about me is that I can open portals. I don't think I'd ever be able to keep up, especially not with two Slayers."

The grin Trunks sent her was slightly unnerving, but his voice was soothing and convincing, as he said, "That's where you're wrong. As I've already explained to Giles, I have the ability to sense the power level of other people, something which I will also teach you to do, and what I've seen is that you have a lot of potential. With the right and enough training you will easily be as strong as a Slayer. Believe me. I know what I'm talking about."

"Do you really think so?" Dawn asked, still not knowing what to do.

"I promise, Dawn. In just a few weeks, maybe even less, you'll be able to slay your own vampires."

Dawn hesitated for a moment, biting her lower lip, before her face lit up with a bright grin. She jumped up from the chair and hugged Trunks tightly around the waist. "Thank you, Trunks! I'll do my best!" Finally someone who was taking her seriously and encouraged her to fight the good fight instead of just trying to protect her. "When do we start?"

Pan laughed, while Faith chuckled. "That's a good question," the new Slayer asked.

"Hey," Trunks laughed. "Calm down… All in good time."

"Trunks," Faith said seriously, as she got up and put her hands on her hips. "Listen to me. We don't know how long it will take Giles to find a way to get you back to your dimension. That means we have to use the time we have and start as soon as possible." The serious expression on her face turned into a smirk. "Or do you want it to be your fault if one of us gets hurt, just because we don't get enough training?"

Trunks groaned exasperatedly and ran his hand through his hair, but there was also a smirk on his face. "Fine." In reality, Trunks was really happy that the three girls were so eager to learn. He just hoped he would be just as good a teacher to them as Gohan had been to him. "We could start now, if you want. I wanted to start off easy, anyway. No sparring, yet, just ki-controlling. But we need some peace for that, so I think we should go to the training room."

Pan jumped up, almost eagerly, and Dawn clapped her hands excitedly. Even Faith had to resist doing something that would be completely out of character for her, as Trunks just grinned and led the way into the backroom. Once the door fell shut behind them, Trunks told them to sit down on the mats, because there would be some theory behind the practical. With a groan, the girls slumped down on the mats, closely followed by Trunks.

As soon as all of them had settled down, Trunks began his explanation of the theory behind the ki. "Okay, I try to make it as simple as possible. Basically, ki is your life force, the energy in your body that allows you to live. Everyone has ki, even plants. But to use it, for example for ki-attacks or to fly, you'll need to gather this energy and draw it forth. However, first of all, you have to find it, and this is most of the time the most difficult part of this training. Once you've found it, the rest is pretty easy." He smiled at them. "Any questions?"

Clearing her throat, Pan looked at him, feeling a bit stupid for wanting to ask this. She was sure that Dawn and Faith already knew the answer, but she had just arrived at this place only a bit more one day ago and knew about her destiny for just as long. And even though the other girls had told her Trunks' story, there were still many things she didn't know. "Uhm… Flying? And what are ki-attacks?"

Trunks simply winked at her with a smirk on his face and instead of answering, suddenly began to float. Pan's jaw literary dropped to the floor and even Dawn and Faith couldn't keep the awe and admiration from their faces. None of them had ever seen another person fly like this, not even demons (not counting the dragon Dawn had seen from Glory's tower). But to top it off, Trunks stretched his index finger and a small beam of energy hit the dummy in the back of the room.

"Wow…" Pan gasped.

"I second that," Dawn agreed, as Trunks lowered himself again to the ground. First the promise of getting stronger and now also flying? This was getting steadily better. "I wanna do that, too!"

"And you will, soon," Trunks told them, still smirking. "If you do what I say. So, do you have any more questions or can we begin?"

"No, no more questions," Pan said quickly, after having exchanged a glance with the other two willing students. "We can start."

"Good… Now, you just need to relax and to concentrate. You have to clear your mind and find the energy that is flowing through your body. You have to feel it, the energy. Once you've found it, try to lead it to your palms and push it out, so that it forms a small sphere in your palms."

Faith, Dawn and Pan followed his instructions and closed their eyes. Trunks guessed that it might take some time until one of the girls showed some improvement, so he closed his eyes himself and concentrated on his own ki, meditating. Slowly a blue aura began to surround him and he again rose into the air.

Unnoticed by everyone in the room, even by herself, a small ki-ball slowly appeared between Pan's palms. While Pan was meditating, her breath became more and more regular and deeper. She thought of nothing but ki and flying and suddenly a picture of her and Trunks with shorter hair flying through the air, found its way to her mind. She was almost startled out of her trance by this vision, but quickly recovered and held onto it. She wondered, where this vision came from, but eventually dismissed it, as she thought that she must have quite an imagination. As she continued with her meditation, a red aura was slowly beginning to glow around her and she began floating as well – again unnoticed by everyone. Pan was about the same altitude as Trunks, when she opened her eyes, wanting to look if this 'ki-thing' worked, and saw Trunks sitting directly in front of her, in a deep trance.

Not bad, she thought, allowing her eyes to roam his extremely well-built body. Only a fool wouldn't feel attracted to his body. No, not bad at all, Pan decided quickly, but then she noticed something else and her eyes grew wide. Trunks was floating in the air, about six feet above the ground. And yet, she was still on eye-level with him. This led to only one explanation. She was floating as well.

Suddenly, startled by this explanation, she lost her concentration, and with a scream dropped back to the ground. Her scream woke the others from their concentration and they saw Pan sitting on the floor, rubbing her behind. "Ouch… That hurts…" she mumbled complaining.

"Pan!" Trunks yelled, the worry evident in his voice, as he landed on his feet. "Are you okay? What happened?"

Faith got up from her sitting position and offered Pan her hand before pulling the other Slayer back to her feet. "Thanks… I think I know now how the air's up there," Pan told them and pointed with one hand to the roof and rubbed with the other her still hurting behind.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Dawn asked confused.

"Well, I was floating, I guess. Or else I don't know why this hurts so much. Ouch… I think I still have to learn how to land properly," Pan joked, while the others just stared at her.

~*~

"I wonder what they're doing in there…" Willow asked herself, when she looked up from one book. It had been quiet the whole time, except for the one scream, but they didn't worry, since Buffy often screamed when she hit something … or someone.

"I don't know what two Slayers, a teenage key and a young half-alien would do alone in a training room," Xander told her, but earned scowls from the other Scoobies. "What?" He thought for a moment. "Hey! That was you with the dirty thoughts! Not me!"

They mumbled apologies and got back to their work. Only Anya sat down next to Xander and began cuddling. "Hey Xander… Can't we go somewhere else to…"

"Sorry Ahn, but no. We have here some work to do. We still don't have a clue how we could send Trunks back to his own dimension," Xander told her.

"So what? I don't think that he really wants to leave, now that Pan's here. If you haven't noticed, I think he likes her. And it's more than obvious that she likes him, too," Anya told him, shrugging her shoulders.

~*~

"Wow, I can't believe you already managed to fly. I mean, I didn't even find this energy in my body. How did you do it?" Faith asked Pan, when the training was over. Even though they hadn't done any 'real' training like sparring or something like that, they were still completely exhausted and sweating like there was no tomorrow. At the beginning this whole ki-stuff really seemed to be quite difficult – at least for Faith and Dawn.

"I don't know. It was somehow easy. I just concentrated on it and when I opened my eyes I was floating. It simply happened. But if you excuse me now, this whole flying stuff made me hungry. I need to find something to eat. Is someone else in this room hungry?" Dawn and Faith shook their heads, but Trunks nodded.

"Okay, then, you two can try a bit longer to control your ki and Pan and I will go and eat something," Trunks told them and he and Pan left the training room.

~*~

After they told Giles and the others, where they were going and that Faith and Dawn still wanted to train, the two Saiyajins were on the way to the only All-You-Can-Eat restaurant of Sunnydale. When they arrived there, they sat down at a table for two and after both got their first plate with pasta and pizza, they began to talk about the training.

"Pan, I must say, I'm really surprised that you were able to fly after such a short time. I knew all of you had the potential to learn it in a day or two, but not in half an hour. Do you somehow remember that you already learned to fly when you were younger?"

"Nope, everything's blank in there," Pan said and pointed to her head. She didn't tell him about this vision she'd had, because she thought it was too embarrassing. She and him flying together through the air. Pan wondered, if that had maybe been a vision or something like that. Giles had told her that Slayers sometimes had those prophetic dreams. Maybe it had been one of them. But, an unbidden thought shot through her head, she'd have to do something if Trunks decided to cut off his hair. He looked way more handsome with the long hair tied back into the ponytail.'

"Hello! Earth to Pan, earth to Pan!" Trunks joked, waving his hand in front of her face, when he saw the far-away look in her eyes.

"Huh? Oh sorry…" she laughed, feeling her cheeks redden in embarrassment. "I think I was daydreaming."

Trunks couldn't help but admit to himself that he loved her smile. "And what dreamland did you visit?"

"I won't tell ya!" she answered smirking, trying to play down the humiliation, and turned her full attention back to her plate, hoping that Trunks would do the same and not ask any more questions. Much to her relief, she saw out the corners of her eyes, how Trunks only looked at her for a second longer, before shaking his head and following her example of returning his full attention back to his meal.

~*~

In the course of the rest of the day, Faith and Dawn also learned slowly how to lead the ki to their palms, but none of them managed to fly on the first day. Since Pan already floated, she and Trunks trained to control when she wanted to fly and when not. The very same evening Pan moved officially into Buffy's room and as she was lying in the bed that night she breathed a happy sigh. Even though she had lost her memory, she had found people who cared for her and who were trying to help her with everything. But even though she felt that way, she couldn't sleep. She tried to lie still, and to toss from one side to another, but it didn't help. Groaning she got up and walked to the window and opened the blinds and the window. The air was pleasantly fresh and clear and there were no clouds in the sky, so that she could see many stars and the full moon. She realized with a grin that it must be the full moon that kept her awake. Then suddenly she turned around, grabbed the blanket from her bed and climbed out of the window. Pan stretched her muscles and sat down, snuggling into the blanket and leaning against the wall, just watching the stars. Her thoughts drifted to how beautiful the stars were, and she noticed the nagging feeling that she knew how it was out there, which couldn't be possible of course. Snuggling even further into the blanket, she allowed her eyelids to droop and her last thoughts before falling asleep were of Trunks.

~*~

The next morning, shortly before dawn, Spike and Trunks came back from patrolling. That night had been quite busy. Vampires, werewolves and even a few demons… They really had much to do, and since the night was almost over, they decided to go home and to bed, to rest from their exhausting night of killing. When they crossed the front yard of the Summers' house, Spike suddenly noticed a figure on the roof.

"Hey, look there," he said and pointed to the figure.

"Is that Pan?"

"Yeah, I guess. But she looks pretty much asleep. Someone should get her into her bed."

"I will do that. You should go inside. The sun begins to rise." Spike nodded and Trunks looked around, careful that no one was watching him.

"Uhm, mate, I think we have to go inside to get her…" Spike suddenly broke off his sentence, when Trunks started to levitate. "Okay, do it your way…" He shook his head and walked inside.

Trunks landed on the roof silently, carefully not to wake the beautiful girl up that was lying in front of him. He gently picked her up and carried her through the window into her room and laid her on the bed, covering her with the blanket. While he was watching her she turning onto her right side and sighing contently, he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. "Sweet dreams little Panny," Trunks whispered and left the room, carefully closing the door behind him.

~*~

The next few days everyone was busy. The three girls were training to control their ki and trained to fly, because Trunks promised them to begin with the sparring once they all managed to do that. The Scoobies were still trying to find a way to resurrect Buffy and a way to open a portal or something like that to Trunks' dimension. But they were slowly losing their hope, even though it had just been sixteen days since Buffy's death and the appearance of the half-Saiyajin, because they had already looked through almost every single book Giles had in his library and the Council didn't let them look into their books for unknown reasons.

~*~

Quentin Travers, Stevenson and Yasuo were standing behind a large window, looking down into a dark gym. In the background you could hear sounds of training and fighting, which were obviously coming from the gym. "Yasuo, I'm really pleased with you. You taught her really much in the last days that I'm surprised by her improvements," Travers praised the monk.

"I'm pleased to hear that from you sir, but I didn't even do half the work of her improvements. She's simply incredible. With each day she is growing stronger and gets more knowledge. From one moment to another she surprises me with something new. Not just physically, but also mentally. She already learned how to control her ki, and she is even able to float a bit. She is able to recognize vampires at the ki signature and can feel what they are planning to do in completely darkness. But once she has reached her old age again, I will start to train her harder than before. I'm proud to say that she's one of a handful people on the whole planet, who possesses the strength and skill to do that."

"That is good, because I don't want her to fail her mission. The Key must be eliminated, no matter what happens. And this is also a good chance to get rid of the rogue Slayer and the other troublemakers like the witches."

"Hey Quentin!" the three men suddenly heard a female voice shouting. They looked again down into the gym and saw a bit dust flowing through the air to the spot where a small window in the roof sent a bit light into the dark gym. "I'm bored."

"Don't worry. In four days your training will get better!" Travers promised.

"Really? Neat." The owner of the voice stepped into the light. It was a sixteen years old girl with shoulder-length blond hair and lively hazel eyes, holding a stake in her right hand.


	7. The Dream

**Chapter 6: The Dream**

Two weeks after Pan was able to fly, Faith and Dawn managed to do it as well. First, the Scoobies wondered how Pan was able to do it that fast, but they then came to the conclusion that someone must have trained her to control her ki, or at least to meditate properly, before she lost her memory and that this was the reason for her to learn the rest that fast. After a long day of planning and talking, The Scoobies decided that this night would be the first night, in which they would show the underworld of Sunnyhell, as Spike had put it, their new ability.

All of the Scoobies wanted to be present in that special night to see the reaction of the vampires towards the flying Slayers, but Giles, Trunks and the Chosen Ones thought that it would have been to dangerous for them. After about half of the day passed with arguing with Dawn about, if she could go with them or not, they allowed her to watch, but just under the condition that she would run or fly away as soon as it became too dangerous for her.

So, that night, Pan, Faith, Trunks, Spike and Dawn were patrolling on the biggest cemetery in Sunnydale. They've heard from Willy - the owner of a demon bar in Sunnydale, who usually needed some form of persuasion to part with information, which Spike had happily offered, despite the blinding headache afterwards - that the vampires were planning something and they would hold some kind of meeting at that graveyard. So, they thought that it would be the perfect chance to show them what they had learned from Trunks.

"Okay, you all know the plan," Trunks said, when they were lying behind a few bushes, watching the vampires, as they were standing in front of a crypt, talking about something. There were about ten of them, but they appeared to be strong. The others nodded and Spike stood up, while the rest of them was remaining on the floor.

He lit a cigarette and walked to the other vampires. "Hey mates! What's up?" he asked coolly.

"Who are you?" one of the vampires, who seemed to be the leader, wanted to know.

"Don't say you don't know me…" Spike said, sounding disappointed. Pan could even swear that she saw a pout on Spike's face. "I'm Spike. Slayer of two Slayers"

The leader snorted, as he elbowed one of the other vampires in the rips. ""Did you hear him? Spike, Slayer of two Slayers. But that's not all, right? You're also Spike, William the Bloody. The pathetic excuse for a vampire, who kills his own kind. You loved the Slayer, right? Too bad, she's dead. Otherwise it would have been a pleasure for me to suck her dry in front of your eyes."

"Dream on…" the chipped vampire mumbled, flicking some ashes from his cigarette away, and inspecting the black color of the nails of his other hand at the same time.

"What did you say?"

"I said 'Dream on' or do you really think you could've laid a hand on the Slayer? She would've staked you before you even knew that she was there."

-

The others were watching patiently as Spike was talking to the leader and waited for him to give the sign to attack. Finally he threw his cigarette to the ground and stepped on it with his boot.

"That was the sign," Trunks said, when Faith and Pan slowly got up and each floated to one side of the crypt while Spike was still occupying the vampires.

-

"I am not a lovesick vampire. And I'm not weak."

"So, and why do you still help the friends of the Slayers? Do you really think they appreciate your help? I think I could kill you instantly and they won't even notice that you're gone. I'm sure that's the reason why you're here. You – the big bad - wants to beg us to accept you as one of us. But I've got to admit. I thought at first that it would be a trap, but I didn't hear and see anything of your 'friends' coming here and I don't even think that they would be able to land a surprise attack on us." The leader told him with a self-confident grin, but Spike just raised his eyebrow.

"Really?" At that moment, Pan and Faith both staked a vampire of the group from behind. There they stood, both holding a stake in their hands, ready to attack.

"What? How?" the leader looked around and saw the two smirking Slayers. "What are you waiting for?" he shouted at the other vamps. "Attack them!" With a roar the vampires attacked the Slayers and the leader attacked Spike.

"Okay Dawn, stay here. It's show time." Trunks pulled out his sword and joined in the fight, separating a head from a vampire's body the first second he got there. He didn't have any problems with the demons and it didn't take long for him to pulverize another one with a small ki blast.

"Hey Faith!" Pan shouted. "Do you see that? Trunks gets all the fun with the killing. Should we follow his example?"

"Of course!" At that moment she staked one of the vampires she was just fighting with. "You see?"

"Okay!" Pan, who was fighting three vampires at once, suddenly leapt into the air and, much to the surprise of the vampires, stayed there. The girl used the distraction of the vampires and prepared an attack Trunks had taught her. She first stretched both arms to each side away from her body and gathered the energy in her palms. Then she moved her stretched arms to the front of her body, pointing with her palms at the three still stunned vampires, who could see the energy crackling around her body, which glowed slightly. "FINAL FLASH!" Yelling this, she sent a huge ki blast, one bigger than a Slayer should be able to produce, towards the three vampires and pulverized them and coincidentally also the one's Trunks and Faith were fighting, because they standing in the way. Breathing hard, Pan saw that the leader Spike was fighting tried to escape. He had noticed that the blond vampire was stronger than him and after he saw what Pan did to his minions, he knew no other way to prevent the end of his undead life. "Faith! Get him!" the other Slayer shouted as she saw him getting away.

Faith nodded and took off into the sky, following him over the trees. He looked back to make sure that no one followed him and ran almost into the girl who was now floating in front of him. "Did you really think I would let you escape?" Faith asked in a mocking voice.

"Y-you can fl-fly!"

"Wow, is it that obvious?" the girl asked before she tossed a stake right through his heart, turning him to dust.

As Faith got back, just a few minutes later, the others were standing in front of the crypt. "Fucking hell! Pan! What was that?" the other Slayer asked curiously.

"That was the Final Flash. Trunks taught me that, while you were still learning how to fly. It's a ki attack," the black-haired girl with the orange bandana answered.

"Huh? Whatever. But I think it has impressed the vampires, but also our flying. I bet the rumors will spread like… I don't know what, but soon every demon will know about The Flying Slayers."

Pan grinned at her. "I think I could get used to this title."

~*~

"Hey mom! Hey Gohan!" Trunks greeted them as he came back from work and entered the lab of his mother. It had now almost been three months since Pan had disappeared through the vortex and they were still looking for a way to find her and to bring her back. But they slowly lost their hope, because they knew that they would soon be at a loss of what they could try next.

"Hi Trunks!" Bulma greeted him, but Gohan didn't even raise his head. He still blamed the son of Vegeta for the disappearance of his little girl. Trunks rather wished that Gohan would beat him to a bloody pulp instead of punishing him by ignoring him or throwing him death-glares when Gohan was talking about Pan. But even when Gohan didn't do things like that, Trunks felt miserably. He didn't know if he could live with the knowledge that his best friend could be dead because of his stupidity.

"Anything new?" he asked nervously.

"No, nothing."

Trunks hung his head, when Bulma told him that and walked to his room, where he threw his bag to the floor and leaned with his forehead against the wall. Cursing and yelling, he clenched his fist and hit a hole in the wall. "Why Pan? Why was it not me who flew through the vortex? Why? Why?" He slid down the wall and allowed first one tear to fall and then more. After long months of keeping his emotions and fears inside, he let them finally loose, because he knew very well that their chance to find Pan would get smaller with each passing day.

~*~

In the following two months after they first surprised the vampires with the flying, the rumors found their way through the whole underworld of Sunnydale, so that Pan, Faith and Trunks became the bane of the vampires and demons on the Hellmouth. Strangely enough, the vampire population didn't decrease much, but they didn't even want to think about what might happen to Sunnydale, if they weren't patrolling. However, they still didn't allow Dawn to come with on patrolling, because she was just at the beginning of her fighting training – much to the girl's dislike.

One night Trunks and Pan were patrolling alone on one of the smaller graveyards. While they were walking, Pan played with the stake in her hand and they were talking. "Tell me Pan, why are you always wearing this bandana?" Trunks finally asked her, after he had contemplated for a long time about whether he should ask her or not. He had quickly noticed during their patrols that she was always wearing this orange bandana while she was slaying.

"To be honest," Pan answered, who had to think about it for a short moment. "I don't know. I have the feeling that this bandana is somehow special to me. No, I know it. A person I loved gave it to me - I simply know it. Don't ask me how. It's like a talisman for me."

"Oh, I understand. Maybe you're slowly getting your memories back."

"Yeah, maybe," Pan replied thoughtfully, but looked up suddenly. "Hey Trunks! Look there! Vampires!"

"You're right! Let's go!" he said smiling and both semi-Saiyajins ran towards the vampires. Trunks had no problems with his vampires, as usual, but Pan struggled a bit with the one she was fighting. She managed to land an uppercut, but ducked too late, when the vampire retaliated. The vampire swiped at her head and grabbed the bandana, pulling it off her head. For a split second, Pan was stunned, and this was enough time for the vampire to flee with the bandana. "Shit! Trunks, take care of them. I'll go after him!" Pan yelled and followed the vampire, who already had a head start.

"Okay, but be careful!" he shouted after her, while he was decapitating another one with his sword. The other vampires, noticing that he was now all alone, smirked at each other, before attacking all at once. But they didn't know one thing – Trunks was a Saiyajin. And this would bring on their demise.

Pan followed the vampire for a few minutes and after she came running around a corner she saw how he jumped into the sewers. "Eww, great." Pan sniffed, already smelling the sour odor. But she wanted to have her bandana back, so she had no other choice. After having taken one deep breath of fresh air, Pan jumped after him. With a splash, she landed in the nearly knee-deep water. Disgusting. Looking around, Pan saw that there were several paths leading away from the entrance, and after contemplating for a second, she decided to follow the one to her right. The girl followed the sewer tunnel until she saw some light flicker at the end of it, and much to her surprise, the tunnel ended with a stonewalled chamber. On the other side she saw the vampire. He held her bandana in his hand and smirked. "What the hell…" At that moment, the door behind her closed and many other vampires came from each side and surrounded her. "Fucking bleeding hell!" she cursed.

"Do you want it back?" the first vampire taunted her and she nodded, gritting her teeth and balling her fists. She was trapped and there were far too many vampires for her to take. Stupid! "Then you first have to kill all of us." With that, all of them rushed forwards. Not being prepared for such an onslaught, Pan managed to dodge a few, but others were able to hit her. She really didn't stand a chance. There was no way to escape and there were about thirty vampires and all beating on her until she was lying on the ground, almost unconscious. Then one vampire hit her in her side and kicked her to the first vampire. She was lying just a few meters in front of him and looked up. "So, what now? I think I will kill you. But before I want you to see how I burn your bandana. You seem to like it a lot," he said and held the bandana a few centimeters over a flame.

"No, please not," Pan begged, her voice raspy, and she spit out some blood, but the vampire held it almost directly into the fire. "No," she whispered and then she felt the rage building up inside her body. This bandana was one of the only few links to her forgotten past and she couldn't bear to lose it. That vampire shouldn't even dare to touch it with his filthy fingers. A snarl escaped her split lips, as the anger continued to grow and eventually peaked. An almost animalistic cry erupted from her throat, as she pushed herself to her knees. "NOOOOOO!" AT this moment Pan felt nothing but rage and anger and some kind of new energy.

The vampires took a step back and the first one let the bandana fall to the ground, when he saw the girl in front of him. She was suddenly standing straight and a strange golden aura was surrounding her. But not just that - the earth was cracking under their feet and small rocks were floating in the air. The girl was still screaming and slowly her hair changed the color from black to blond and her eyes changed from dark do teal. That was the last thing all the vampires saw, because with her changing the energy exploded and dusted every vamp in that room.

When all vampires were gone, the rage and anger subsided and Pan changed back to normal. Exhausted from what has happened, she fell to the floor, unconscious.

~*~

Shortly after Trunks had finished up the vampires and had decided to follow her, he felt Pan's ki explode and vanish shortly after that. He froze, not wanting to believe what he had just felt. Not so long ago, he had sparred with Faith and told her to use her full strength, but this power didn't even come near to what he had felt a second ago. It was almost as high as a… Trunks shook his head, not wanting to think about this now. Pan had to be in serious trouble and might need his help. Flyting as fast as he could, he climbed through the nearest sewer entrance and just a minute after having felt the explosion burst through the door into the chamber. There was a slightly burning smell in the air and he could clearly see the dust on the floor. There had to have been at least twenty, if not more vampires. His eyes scanned the room quickly and almost at once noticed Pan lying on the floor, unconscious. Dropping down next to her, he carefully shook her. "Pan! Pan! Wake up! Come on!" When she didn't react at all, her pulled her body close to his, cradling her into his arms. "Please! I need you! I think I love you!"

At that moment she stirred and slowly opened her eyes. "Trunks? What happened?" she asked weakly.

Trunks sighed with relief, but was somehow disappointed that she hadn't heard his declaration. However, he didn't dwell on it, because the most important thing was that Pan was awake. "I don't know. Your ki sky-rocketed. And then I found you here."

"Oh... Trunks, my bandana, where is it?"

He looked around and saw it lying on the floor. He picked it up and gave it to Pan. "Here it is. I bring you home now. You have to rest."

~*~

While Trunks was flying her home, she fell asleep in his arms. In her room he laid her gently on her bed. During the flight, he had decided that he needed to talk to Giles about what had happened. Maybe he had some answers for this unexpected rise of Pan's ki. After having given Pan one last gentle kiss on the forehead, Trunks left her room and the house.

~*~

_Pan found herself sitting at a lake in the middle of a forest under a tree. She didn't know where she was, but she knew that she knew this place - that she had been there before. She looked around and saw a tall and muscular figure walking towards her. She couldn't see the face, but she had the feeling that she knew this person. "Hey Panny!" The voice sounded cheerful and it made Pan feel comfortable as she heard it. But it also made her sad, like she had missed this person for a long time. She didn't recognize the person, but she somehow knew who it was._

_"Grandpa?"_

_"Yeah Panny, it's me. Do you remember me?" the person without face asked her. Actually she could just see some kind of shadow._

_"No, I just knew that you were my grandpa. Don't ask how," she replied him with a sad smile._

_"Are you okay?" he asked her concerned._

_"Yes I am. What happened?"_

_"I'm sorry Panny. But I can't tell you yet. You must remember it on your own." For the next few minutes they sat next to each other in silence._

_"You were the one who gave me this bandana. That's why it is so important for me. It reminds me of you," she eventually stated in a whisper. _

_"Yes Panny, it was me."_

_"Grandpa, who am I? Am I really a Slayer? Who are my parents? Who are my friends? Do I have parents or friends?" Those questions just suddenly started to come out of her mouth. She knew that he had the answers she needed so desperately. _

_"Panny, as much as I wish to tell you that, I can't do it. I'm not allowed to do it. But I promise you, when the time is right, you'll remember everything. But I can tell you that your friends and parents care for you and that they're looking for you." He inhaled the fresh air of the forest deeply. "I'm sorry Panny, but I have to go now."_

_"It's okay." She sighed a bit disappointed. "Grandpa, one last question. Did I have a reason for jumping from that roof?"_

_The figure shook his head. "No, you didn't jump. You fell."_

_Pan sighed with relief. At least he former life wasn't bad enough for her to attempt suicide. "Grandpa. I've missed you."_

_"I've missed you, too. But remember, you are not alone. You have friends here and you have Trunks."_

_"Grandpa, I think I love him, but I can't tell him that. We don't know when he will leave," the girl said sadly._

_"Talk to him. He's a nice guy. I like him. But Panny, I really have to go now, I'm sorry." The shadow got up and prepared to go away, but it turned around and Pan could feel the warm smile. "I'll watch over you. Bye."_

_"Bye," Pan whispered, when her grandfather disappeared. She leaned back in the grass and closed her eyes._


	8. Love knows no Boundaries

**Chapter 7: Love knows no Boundaries**

As soon as Pan had closed her eyes in the dream, she woke up. At first she was a bit disoriented about where she was, because she somehow expected to wake up in another room. Staring at the white ceiling of her room, she tried to make sense of her jumbled thoughts. Just what the hell had that been? First that weird dream and now expecting to wake up at a different place? But it had seemed to real. She had expected a computer at the other wall, along with a television, and the closet had been at a completely different place. Could Trunks really be right with his assumption that her memories returned? Some people might say that this would be too good to be true, but Pan didn't know if she should be glad or scared of that. Somehow she really wanted to remember her old life, but on the other hand she liked this life.

Well, in the end Pan decided that she didn't need to figure this out now. She doubted that her memories would suddenly return without warning. Closing her eyes, Pan tried to sleep again, but she was unsuccessful. Despite her decision, there were still too many thoughts haunting her mind. After about half an hour of rolling from one side to another, she decided to do the same thing she did the last time, when she couldn't sleep. She took her blanket, climbed out of the window and sat down on the roof, the blanket wrapped around her body.

~*~

Trunks was on his way home from Giles. He knew he could easily fly home, but he wanted to walk. He had too many things to think about since he had talked to the Watcher about the happenings of the night, about his suspicions and his fear.

It was late already, when Trunks had knocked at Giles's door and he had been afraid that he might wake the Watcher. But he needn't have worried. While the Watcher looked already pretty relaxed, he had opened the door too quickly for someone who had been sleeping. As soon as the door was opened, a worried look had crossed Giles's face and he let Trunks step inside and offered him a seat. As soon as Giles had sat down as well, he had asked, "So, Trunks… what's happened?"

"To be honest, I don't know," Trunks had answered, much to Giles's surprise. He had immediately taken off his glasses and begun to clean them, as he stuttered a not very eloquent,

"W-what?"

"When Pan and I fought some vampires, one was able to steal her bandana. She told me to take care of the others and followed the vamp. During my fight I always followed the track of her ki, looking if she was okay. I knew I shouldn't be worried about her following a vampire, but I had a bad feeling about it. Because of that I hurried up and killed the vampires in quite a short time. Just at the moment I finished them off, I felt Pan's ki exploding…"

"What do you mean with 'exploding'?" the Watcher had interrupted him.

"It skyrocketed", Trunks had explained further. "It was suddenly much higher than I've ever expected it ever to be. It was suddenly at the level of a…" Trunks had hesitated at this point. He hadn't wanted to say it. He hadn't wanted to tell them about it, because he didn't want them to be afraid of him and of his powers. He had wanted to keep it a secret.

"At the level of a… what?"

The Saiyajin had known then that he had to tell him about it, when he wanted him to know the power-level Pan was at. "It was at the level of a Super Saiyajin's ki."

"What is a Super Saiyajin?" Giles had wanted to know. He had still been calm, but Trunks hadn't known if that would last, when he told him about his true strength.

"It's the ascended form of a Saiyajin. At this form we're much stronger than in our normal form. The power of a Super Saiyajin is released when a Saiyajin feels nothing but pure anger. After some time he learns how to control this anger and the nervousness he feels when he's a Super Saiyajin. But that's not all. There are also different stages of a Super Saiyajin. I do just know two stages, but I'm sure with enough training a Saiyajin could reach even higher levels."

"Are you able to-to reach this Super Saiyajin stage?" Trunks had nodded slowly to answer his question. "And how far?"

"After some hard training, I'm now able to reach the second level." Trunks had carefully raised his head and looked into Giles' eyes, hoping that he could see his reaction, but the Watcher had remained calm.

"How strong is that?"

"You need to know that I'm strong enough to destroy the planet, even in my normal form. But as a Super Saiyajin, I'm even more powerful. You must see it that way. When an opponent is way superior to a Saiyajin in normal form, he will be nothing compared to a Super Saiyajin. The same goes for the change to the second level."

Giles had eyed him for a moment and they had sat in silence before he had said something. "I understand. I knew you were strong, but I've never expected that you would possess such power. But tell me, what does that have to do with Pan?"

"As I've already said, it felt like Pan possessed the power of a Super Saiyajin for a brief moment and I don't think that this is natural for a Slayer, or what do you think?"

"Y-you could be right. We have to keep an eye on her, just in case." Giles had then put his glasses back on his nose and sighed. "However, I believe that it is prudent that we keep this discovery secret for now. There's no need to worry the others or for Pan to find out that we know."

Trunks stopped thinking about his conversation with Giles, when he stopped in front of the Summers' house. He immediately spotted Pan sitting on the roof. But this time she didn't seem to be sleeping. He watched her for a while and noticed that she was wrapped up in her blanket and that she was looking at the stars, before he decided to join her. He floated up to her, carefully not to scare the girl. "Hey, what are you doing here?" he asked gently.

She looked at him and smiled warmly. "Couldn't sleep. Weird dream."

"Oh…" For the next few minutes they sat next to each other and didn't talk. "Pan," Trunks asked finally, "what happened in the sewers?"

Pan seemed to think for a few seconds, before she answered, "To be honest, I don't remember. After I was locked in this chamber with I don't know how many vampires and they beat be to a bloody pulp, everything's blank until you woke me up. Why do you ask?"

That was exactly the question Trunks didn't want to hear after he and Giles agreed on not telling her about the short but drastic increase of her ki. "I'm-I'm just worried. But, may I ask you what your dream was about? Maybe it could help us to figure some things out."

Pan sighed and Trunks noticed the absent but somehow happy look in her eyes. "I know it will sound strange, but I talked to my grandfather. And that even though I don't remember how he looked like or what his name was, he appeared in my dream and I know that it was him."

"What were you two talking about?"

"I asked him what has happened in the sewers, but he said that he couldn't tell me yet. But he assured me that my family and my friends are looking for me and that I will eventually remember who I am and that I didn't jump from that roof."

"That's great!" Trunks burst out. "I mean, that you'll find out who you are and … you know what I mean."

Pan looked at him, smiling sadly. "Yeah, this would be great, but I'm not sure, if I want it."

"What?" Now, Trunks was confused. Pan had just told him that she would eventually remember everything and now she didn't want it anymore.

"I-I'm…." Pan took a deep breath. "I'm afraid Trunks. Afraid of what will come if I remember everything. I mean… I like this life… Slaying is fun, I like it. I love fighting evil. What if I have to leave, or that my parents won't accept the whole Slayer-thing…"

"Don't think about that Pan. When your parents really love you, than they won't say anything against the slaying. They will accept it. I'm sure that they're just happy to have you back…" Trunks tried to comfort her.

"But, that's not all. Trunks, what if I had a boyfriend in my former life? Someone who I really loved with all my heart? I know that I will eventually hurt him."

"Why do you think that?"

"Because I know that I couldn't feel love for him anymore," Pan admitted.

"What make you think that? I'm sure as soon as you get your memory back that you would again be able to love your boyfriend of whom we don't even know if he exists." It hurt him to say that, but if that really happened, who was he to deny her happiness and love?

Trunks heard that Pan swallowed hard and he could almost hear her mind cracking about what she would say next. "I- I fell in love someone else."

It almost broke Trunks's heart, when she spoke out those words. He wondered, who this mysterious boy could be? It had to be someone she got to know here. Was it maybe Spike? Could he be the one? After all, she had spent a lot of time with him in the last few weeks, and he was the only one who didn't have a girlfriend. The Saiyajin didn't know what to do. He loved Pan and this almost from the first time he had seen her. Then again, how could there be someone who didn't love her. She was everything, perfect and he had never met someone like her before.

"He likes you…" she suddenly said, tearing him out of his thoughts.

"Huh?" Who liked him? The man she loved? Spike? Just what the hell was she talking about?

"Grandpa. He told me that you're a nice guy and that he likes you. That's why he told me to talk to you."

Trunks swallowed hard. Now she was going to tell him, who would be the lucky one who had earned her love. In his mind Trunks screamed that he didn't want to hear it. He couldn't bear it. He didn't think one moment that she could love him.

"Trunks, you're the one." Pan looked now directly into his eyes. "I love you, and no one else." She looked at him, waiting for an answer. Inside she had already prepared herself for a rejection, but it never came. "Trunks? Have you heard me?"

"Oh sorry, but I've imagined that you just said you love me," he told her, with a completely dumbfounded expression on his face.

"You didn't imagine that. I love you Trunks. And I understand when you don't feel the same for me. I know that you will eventually leave to your own dimension and I won't…"

"I love you, too, Pan."

"W-what?" Pan asked him confused, now questioning herself if she had heard right. "Can you please repeat that?"

But Trunks didn't do that. He simply leaned forward and kissed her. The kiss began soft and gently but soon became harder and more passionate. When they pulled apart a few minutes later, both were out of breath and trembling. Trunks put his arm around Pan and pulled her closer, so that her head rested on her shoulder.

Pan sighed. That felt so good. She had never felt safer in her life, okay, in the life she did remember. She snuggled deeper in his embrace and inhaled his scent. She was so content and wished that this moment could last forever.

"It will last forever Pan, it will. I will never leave you."

Startled, Pan almost jumped up. She didn't expect Trunks to answer on her thought. "Uhm, Trunks… How could you hear that? I'm sure that I didn't say it aloud."

Trunks smirked. His father had been right. In the time Trunks spent in the Room of Spirit and Time with Vegeta, he had once asked him, why he stayed with his mother. So, Vegeta had told him about the Saiyajin bond. That was one of the rare moments in which father and son actually talked to each other and even though Vegeta didn't say it, Trunks knew that this bond represented deep love and respect for the partner. When a bond was formed between two people, they would stay together till eternity.

When Pan saw Trunks smirking, it immediately seemed to her as if she had seen this before. It was so familiar. But she quickly shook the thought off. She couldn't have seen it before. Trunks came from another dimension and she was the Slayer in this dimension, so it was impossible. "Hey, what are you smirking at?" she finally asked.

_'Nothing. We just formed a bond. That means you will be stuck with me forever and we can communicate mentally,'_ he told her, using the new mind-link between them.

Pan was confused. She had heard Trunks' voice, but his mouth hadn't moved.

_'Pan, it's true. It's a Saiyajin thing.' _

_'And you will stay with me forever? What is with your home?'_ It was a bit weird, talking to him like that, but definitely something she could get used to.

_'First, I don't know if we will ever find a way for me to go home. Second, if we find a way, I'll just go there, tell my mother what's up and come back to you, but I also have to kill Cell and he will appear in about two years.'_

"Trunks, tell me about you. I want to know everything about your life, and I promise, as soon as I get my memory back, I will tell you everything about me," Pan told him yawning.

"No, not now," he said laughing. "You should go to bed." With that he easily picked her up, carried her back inside through the window and laid her down on her bed.

"But you will tell me tomorrow!" Pan demanded after Trunks pulled the blanket up to her chin.

"Okay! But now, goodnight." He leaned down and kissed her on her forehead, but Pan wasn't satisfied with that and pulled him down again at his collar, kissing him on his lips.

"Goodnight."

~*~

"What the hell? How did I get here?" Vegeta asked no one in particular, when he suddenly found himself at a lake in a forest. Vegeta recognized it vaguely. It was near the house of Kakarotto's brat number one.

"Hey Vegeta!" a cheerful voice called out.

Vegeta spun around just to see Goku sitting at the lake. "Kakarotto! What are you doing in my dream? And what am I doing here?"

Goku sighed. "I brought you here, because I need to talk with you."

"Then I guess this isn't a normal dream, because I would never dream of talking with you," Vegeta snarled, trying to be as unfriendly as possible, even though he was somehow - well, happy was not the right word, maybe – pleased to see his archrival.

"You're right. Shenlong gave me the permission to visit you, that means everyone, in their dreams if absolutely necessary and in this case it is."

"What are you talking about?" Vegeta asked annoyed.

"Pan."

"The brat? Where is she? Is she alive?" Vegeta wanted to know, a hint of worry in his voice.

Goku raised an eyebrow and grinned. "Vegeta, are you worried about her?"

"Of course not! It's just… annoying how she's now the center of everything… Pan here, Pan there. The woman is almost always in her lab together with your brat so that they can find a way to find out where she is. My brat is miserable, as is Bra. I'm somehow glad that my brat didn't bond with your grandbrat, because they both would be almost dead by now. Even though I had to admit that I silently hoped that they would form a bond, because the spawn of a third class Saiyajin is better than some human or half-android female." That was the closest thing of approval that would come out of Vegeta's mouth and Goku had to suppress a huge grin. "But now, what's up with her? Why are you talking to me and not with your brat?"

"Pan is fine, but she has lost her memory. She doesn't remember her former life, but she's okay. She likes the life she has now."

"And what does her life look like?"

"She slays demons and vampires."

That caused Vegeta to laugh. "Truly a Saiyajin, always fighting."

"Yeah…" Goku said grinning. "But that's not all. The people there think that she is the new Slayer, a girl chosen to fight the forces of darkness or something like that, after the old one had died and even some kind of Council said that she's the new Slayer. Obviously a lie, but I don't know yet why they lied to them."

"Humans…" Vegeta snorted. "But where is she now? I bet the others will be glad to hear where she is."

"I'm sorry, but I can't tell you that. We have to wait until she gets her memory back. That's also the reason I tell you about it. Gohan would immediately do anything to bring her back. But I will give Bulma a hint when it's about time. Tell her just to build a machine you can travel through dimensions with, so that it is ready. And then when you're there, go to a shop called Magic Box. She often hangs out there... By the way Vegeta, do you really think she would be the right one for Trunks?" Goku asked him, his grinning growing brighter.

"What are you talking about? I don't think that this is the right topic right now."

"Not? Because I know that she will be your future-daughter-in-law."

"What?"

"You must know, there was some kind of accident in the other dimension that caused to open portals in many other worlds and timelines… And guess what, not just Pan flew through such a portal, but Mirai Trunks did too. They've met and eventually fell in love, even though no one of them knows about her heritage. I guess that she will remember everything as soon as the bond between them is completed." He looked at Vegeta who stared at the other Saiyajin in shock. "Vegeta?"

Vegeta's lips curled into a smirk. "Alright Kakarotto. I'll tell my woman to invent a machine like that. I hope I can convince her and your overprotective brat."

"Good. I have to go then. And please, don't tell anyone about our meeting, okay?" Vegeta nodded at him and Goku prepared to leave. "Bye Vegeta!" With that Goku disappeared.

~*~

Quentin Travers sat as usually in his office. With him were Mr. Yasuo and the young Watcher Stevenson.

"Stevenson, as you know, I will give her into your hands as soon as she's ready," Travers told him.

"I know, but I'm not sure, if I could handle her. I mean, I've heard that the Council had many problems with her and that you even had to fire Mr. …"

"Don't worry about that. She's like new. She would never think of disobeying us. She's one of us now. Besides, she doesn't remember anything and as long as we have the books with the prophecies they won't find out about her."

At that moment there was a light knock at the door and a twenty-years old woman stepped in. Her long blond hair was tied back in a ponytail and her hazel eyes were gazing through the room. "Oh, I've thought you were alone, Mr. Travers," the blond woman said.

"Why do you want to see me alone? There's nothing you couldn't share with any of us," Travers assured her.

"Okay… So, when can I finally go to Sunnydale? I've been training for almost three months now and I think that I'm more than ready to take care of that Key and the others."

"No, you're not ready to go yet. Usually we would have sent you by now, but we've heard that they have become stronger than any of us expected. You have to train more to be able to beat them," Quentin told her and silenced her with his hand before she could complain. "You can go now… Buffy."


	9. Plans

**Chapter 8: Plans**

"Good morning Trunks, did you sleep well last night?" Dawn greeted Trunks grinning, when he climbed down the stairs and stepped into the kitchen.

Faith could barely hold back her laughter, when she saw the half-Saiyajin. He was just wearing his black boxers and a tank top. His long hair was a pure mess - he hadn't showered and tied it back yet - and his eyes were still full of sleep. Plus, he had a stupid grin on his face. "Morning," he said yawning, as he walked to the table and poured some black coffee into a mug. He didn't get much sleep in the last night, because he always had to think about Pan. Pan smiling, Pan laughing, Pan slaying, kissing Pan… Trunks had never been that happy before. But not just the lack of sleep was nagging at him, he had never been someone who could get up early in the morning and be fresh and active. Well, he had been like this since he had defeated the androids in his world.

"Hello! Earth to Trunks! Are you in there?" Dawn asked laughing.

"Huh?" Trunks was interrupted in his daydream. Still grinning he took a sip of his coffee that made him at once a bit more awake, letting the caffeine work its wonders. He then turned around and faced the two girls. "Did you ask something?"

Now, the girls couldn't stop laughing, even if it was the same each morning, when Trunks was on patrol the night before. You could first speak with him when he had at least one sip of his coffee. "Dawn wanted to know, if you slept well last night… But I guess you did, according to the grin on your face."

"So, I guess you finally talked to Pan about your feelings for each other?" Dawn asked him still smiling. "Thought so," Dawn told him, when his grin grew even wider at the mention of Pan.

"And? How far did it go last night?" Faith now wanted to know.

Just at that moment Pan came through the door. "Not far. We kissed and then he brought me to bed," she said with a grin, matching Trunks'.

"Just kissing? Not more?" Faith asked, pretending to be disappointed.

"No, not more." Pan walked up to Trunks and kissed him. "Morning."

"Good morning Panny." He kissed her back and put his arm around her shoulder.

"Awwwww! How cute! He called her Panny!" Dawn squealed in a teasing voice. Pan and Trunks just looked at each other and suddenly began to chase Dawn through the whole house, leaving a laughing Faith in the kitchen behind.

~*~

When Vegeta woke up the next morning he found the other side of the bed empty. It was Sunday and usually he and Bulma would snuggle a bit after both woke up (which he would never admit to anyone of course), but since Pan had disappeared she was always in her lab at that time. Vegeta grunted and got up. After he took a shower and got dressed, he walked down to the kitchen, silently hoping that his woman would be there, making his breakfast. But as he got there, he was disappointed. No woman, no breakfast. Unnoticeable sighing, he followed the corridor to the lab, from where he could hear the quiet hum of the computers and machines.

And there she was. Sitting at her desk and racking her brains over many papers. Next to her was Gohan sitting in front of a monitor, where Vegeta saw hundreds of numbers passing by. He shook his head and entered the room, unnoticed by the two 'inhabitants' as you could call them by now after the last three month. He cleared his throat, trying to gain their attention, but didn't succeed. Well, he always had a plan B. "WOMAN!" he yelled, causing Bulma nearly to fall from her chair.

"VEGETA! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING HERE? If this is about breakfast, you can make your own, or shouldn't you be training somewhere?" she asked him, sounding clearly annoyed and scowling at him.

"I'm not here because of breakfast and I can train whenever and wherever I want. I'm here because of your constant presence in this lab. You should take a break or doing something else, like … building an interdimensional portal…" he told her.

"What? Why should I build that?"

That got Gohan's attention. "Vegeta, do you know something we don't know. Do you know where my daughter is?"

"No, I don't know where your stupid brat is," Vegeta answered with an exasperated voice. Well that was not a lie, Kakarotto ahd just told him that Pan was alright, except for the amnesia-thing.

"And why do you think I should make an interdimensional portal?" Bulma wanted to know.

"Because," he began. He had thought of this answer almost the whole night, since he had talked to Kakarotto. "What if you find her? I'm sure you would want to bring her home as soon as possible, but you would still have to wait until that portal is finished, and I'm sure Kakarotto's brat wouldn't like that." Vegeta smirked, when he saw the thoughtful looks on both their faces. He knew that he had convinced them.

Bulma looked Vegeta straight in his eyes. "Gohan, I think that he's right. It's better to have this portal finished before we find her." Gohan wanted to say something, but Bulma interrupted him. "You can continue the research and I will design that machine. Okay?" Gohan nodded unwillingly, after all it was his daughter who was somewhere lost in some strange dimension, without knowing how to get home, but he saw the point Vegeta had. "Fine." Bulma stood up and walked towards Vegeta. "Vegeta, can I talk to you, just for a minute?"

He frowned, wondering what she would talk about. "Okay," he eventually agreed and he and his mate walked out of the lab and closed the door. Vegeta crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall, while Bulma was pacing in front of him.

"Okay, Vegeta. What do you know?" Bulma asked him.

"What are you talking about woman?"

"Pan. I'm talking about Pan. You know something, I can see that. But what?" When Vegeta didn't answer her, she continued asking. "You know what has happened to her. Is she okay? Where is she?" Scowling, he turned around and walked away.

"VEGETA!" Bulma shouted after him, but he simply ignored her. "Vegeta, I hope you know what you're doing," she added whispering.

~*~

The same afternoon Giles had called the Scoobies to meet him at the Magic Box, because there was something important he had to talk to them about.

"… a-and that's why I think that Faith and Pan should attend the last year of High School to graduate, so that they could go to college and lead a … an almost normal life," he finished his _smal'_ speech which he had been holding for the last thirty minutes. In that time he named every possible reason why the two Slayers should go to High School. Said Slayers tried their best to listen to their Watcher, but weren't really that successful. Faith was gazing somewhere into space, trying to find something that was more interesting than Giles's speech and Pan flirted non-stop with Trunks through their newly discovered bond, while she was sitting on his lap. "So, what do you think?" Giles asked at the end.

"That was why you called everyone, and I mean everyone here?" Xander asked confused. "I mean, what do we have to do with it? We graduated, destroyed Sunnydale High and some of us are now going to college."

"I-I just thought it might interest you that I want to send them back to school," Giles said embarrassed, cleaning his glasses and then turned to the girls. "Do you want to say something about that?" He placed the glasses back on his nose and noticed that neither Faith nor Pan were listening to him. "Pan? Faith?"

That got the attention of the two girls. "Yep?" they asked in unison.

"I wanted to know if you want to say something about it."

"About what?" Faith asked, sounding absolutely clueless.

"I…"

"He wanted to ask you if you want to say something against his plan of sending you two back to High School to graduate since the summer holidays will end today," Anya informed them. "That's the reason why he had to steal some Xander-time from me."

"Thank you Anya, that was exactly what I wanted to ask them. So?" he wanted to know, completely ignoring Anya's last comment.

"You what?" Pan asked disbelieving.

"You want to send us to High School? Come on Giles. We're the Slayers, the Chosen Two, we don't need a High School diploma," Faith tried to convince him.

"Giles, Faith is right. Besides, what should we learn there? The anatomy of a vampire in biology class?" Pan asked sarcastically.

"What?" Giles asked confused, until he got the point. "Well, no. You will go to school and learn hard, that's my last word."

"You sound exactly like my grandma," Pan mumbled instinctively under her breath.

"What did you just say?" Giles asked her.

"I--uhm, nothing…" she lied. Damn… what was it? What did she say? She couldn't remember. It had slipped her mind again, before she could grasp it.

"Giles, was that all?" Trunks asked. "Because I promised Pan to take her out for ice cream today and later we wanted to go to the Bronze."

"Yes, okay… You can leave… But can I first talk to you in private, Trunks?"

"Sure…" Trunks gently pushed Pan down of his lap and followed Giles to the back into the training room. "Giles, I know… It's about Pan and me, isn't it?"

Giles took his glasses and began to clean them, like always when he was nervous. "To be honest Trunks, yes, it is. I would advise you to stay away from her." Trunks wanted to say something, but Giles continued. "I'm not sure anymore if she's on our side, after what happened yesterday. I also called Quentin Travers again this morning, and he still denies having some books we need, even though I know for sure that the Council must possess those books. I mean, what if there's something about Pan that they try to hide? I did some research last night after you left and I found out that there had never been a Slayer who possessed the strength to destroy a whole planet, like you described her power. Just some demons could do that. That's why I think we should be careful around her."

"I'm sorry Giles, but if I stay away from her it would kill both of us," Trunks told the Watcher.

"Trunks, I'm sure that you really like her, yes, maybe even love her. But you won't die if you keep a distance."

"You're right, I love her. But not just that. We formed a bond, a Saiyajin-bond. This is deeper than love, much deeper. We need each other to survive. And believe me, she is on our side. I know it. I feel it."

"A-alright, Trunks, I believe you. But I still need to know what the Council's up to. I have one question. If I'm right and Pan was sent by the Council, would you be able to stop her? I mean, are you stronger than her?" When Trunks nodded, Giles sighed with relief and just as Trunks was about to go, Giles stopped him. "By the way, Trunks. You have to show me this Super Saiyajin form some time. I want to see it."

"Sure!"

~*~

"I see she's training hard," Quentin Travers told Mr. Yasuo, when he entered the gym. Buffy was fighting against five masked men, in black fighting clothes. And it seemed as if she didn't have any problems with them. A punch here, a roundhouse kick there, and so she was superior to all of them. But the most important thing was that she was blindfolded. "When will she be ready?"

"I think in about three months, when she continues like this. Then not even the 'Flying Slayers' will be a match for her," Yasuo told the elder Watcher smiling. "I've heard you had again a phone call from Sunnydale?"

"Yes, it seems like Mr. Giles won't give up pestering us until we give him those books. But he can wait long for that."

~*~

The same night it was Faith's and Spike' turn to patrol. She had just finished the fifth graveyard and was now on the sixth, on the same graveyard Buffy was buried and Spike wanted to do the other half. Not far away from the previous Slayer's grave, she was fighting a few vampires, but most of them were just turned and didn't even know, who or what a Slayer was, until they met Faith. She smiled as she was fighting them. They were so pathetic, but good for a bit of fun. After she had finished them off, she sat down, next to Buffy's gravestone.

"Hey B! Did you see that? Those pathetic vampires… I always hoped that you would gain more attention. I really hoped I would get a good fight here, but no… But I think the hardest fight will begin tomorrow. You ask why? I can tell ya. Giles wants to send us, that means me and little Panny, back to school. Scary, huh? But I think that I should thank him… and the others… Going to school means much to me. I can finally start a new life, the Scoobies made it possible for me… You made it possible for me… You've done much with your sacrifice, not just that you saved Dawn and gave me a second chance, you also brought the cutest, but at the same time weirdest couple on this world together - Pan and Trunks, the Slayer and the half-alien from the other dimension." Faith laughed lightly. "Dawn also lightened up in the last time. I don't hear her cry anymore at night. I guess Trunks, Pan, Spike and I are now a family for her. But to be honest B, I miss you. I hoped that everything could be this way without you lying here, six feet under the earth. And I truly mean it."

At that moment, the wind began to whistle in the trees. And the leaves seemed to form words, almost unnoticeable.

_She who died to save life will arise anew_

Faith grabbed her stake and sprung up to her feet. She swore that she heard something, but couldn't make out where it came from.

_Innocent as a child, just knowing her destiny, she will grow to enormous strength _

"Hello? Is someone there?" Faith's Slayer-senses were on high alert. Whoever was there, she swore she would get him.

_Stronger than before, she'll be reborn, ready to go her destined path _

When Faith sensed a vampire behind her, she turned around, throwing the hand with the stake at him, but he was able to grab it. "Hey, hey, pet! What's up?"

"Oh god, Spike… It's you. You scared me! What are you doing here?" Faith asked him, as she put the stake back into her pocket.

"I'm here to get you. Remember? We wanted to meet here and then go to the Bronze, where the others wanted to wait for us," he told her.

"Oh, yeah, right. Sorry… I just thought that I heard someone talking or something like that. But I think we can go now. I don't want to let the others wait." After having thrown one last look to the grave of the former Slayer, they both left the graveyard and the wind was one last time blowing through the leaves.

_But just true love can show her the right way _

~*~

At the Bronze the Scoobies, except for Spike and Faith, were sitting in a corner on the couches, watching the couples, including Trunks and Pan, on the dance floor. The band was playing a slow song at the moment, so the couples just swayed lightly with their bodies. Pan liked the fact of Trunks being near her. It felt so familiar.

"Aren't they cute?" Willow asked the others smiling.

"Oh yeah, like they were destined to be together," Tara added dreaming.

"I think that Giles doesn't like the idea of those two together…" Anya suddenly said.

"Come on, An. I think he's just a bit overprotective over her," Xander told his fiancée.

"By the way, why isn't Giles here?" the red-haired witch wanted to know.

"He said he wanted to pack a few things, because he wants to go to England tomorrow, talking again to Quentin about those books," Xander informed her.

"Yep," Anya said promptly, rubbing her hand in excitement. "And he's leaving me in charge of the shop and all the money."

~*~

Vegeta couldn't take it any longer. He just wanted to eat his dinner, but he didn't plan on being disturbed by the music Trunks heard in his room. He played the same slow song for over an hour over and over again. But enough was enough. He stood up and went to Trunks room. Without bothering of knocking, he just walked in and found his son lying on the bed, arms crossed behind his head, ignoring his father. To gain his son's attention, Vegeta pointed to the stereo with his index finger and shot a small ki blast at it, destroying it completely. "Finally silence," he said smirking as he turned back to Trunks, who was now sitting.

"DAD! Why did you do that?" he asked his father exasperatedly.

"It was bothering me, besides, why do you hear the same song for over an hour?"

"This was a song they played at Pan's eighteen's birthday. I promised her to dance with her and so I chose this one. She was so happy when I asked her. And as I kissed her hand at the end of the song, it made her even happier. But now I know what it meant for her. It was so obvious and I didn't see it. I was such an idiot."

"Stop brooding brat. I'm sure she has the time of her life right now! Come, I want to spar with you."

"But…"

"No buts! Now come!" Vegeta said as he left the room and Trunks followed him unwillingly. He hoped that his son would finally stop brooding and believed that a good sparring match might be the right thing to knock some sense into him.


	10. Questions

**Chapter 9: Questions**

Trunks didn't know how right his father was. Pan was lying in her bed, snuggled up in her blanket, staring at the ceiling and thinking of the past events. She had never been that happy in her life, well in the life that she remembered, that meant the last three months. She had felt like she was in heaven, when she had been dancing with Trunks. She felt so safe in his embrace. If he hadn't held her in his strong arms, she was sure that she would've melted. At this evening nothing had been able to wipe the smile from her face, nothing. Not even the fact that she had to go to school the next day. It seemed to her as if a dream she had since her early childhood came true. She finally found her prince, and moreover a real prince. Pan raised an eyebrow at her last thought. Just where had this thought come from? Trunks, a prince? He had never told her about this and it was ridiculous anyway. It had to be her imagination that was playing tricks on her. But maybe, she should ask him tomorrow, just for fun. After having turned around in her bed and snuggled deeper into the blanket, she fell asleep almost immediately.

~*~

The next morning, Bulma met ChiChi and Videl for breakfast at Capsule Corporation. It had become a habit for the women to meet each Monday morning and to talk a bit. It was really quiet in the house. Bulma's parents were on vacation, Trunks was at work, Vegeta in the gravity room, Gohan in the lab and Bra had her first school day after the summer holidays. Through the silence Bulma noticed that something wasn't right with the other two women. "Okay, what is bothering you two?" she finally asked.

"I'm just missing my little baby," Videl told her.

"Yes, today school starts again, and she would be a senior now. If we don't find her soon, she won't be able to graduate. God, we don't even know if there's a school where she is now," ChiChi said.

"Didn't Gohan tell you that I'll begin to build a portal which connects the dimensions?" The two Son-women shook their heads. "Well, Vegeta told me to do that. And I could see in his eyes that he knows something about Pan. He just doesn't want to tell us, yet. That must mean that Pan's okay, otherwise Vegeta would tell us at once, I swear."

"Are you sure Bulma?" Videl asked.

"Of course," the blue-haired woman told them smiling.

~*~

"Good morning all students of Sunnydale! It's a beautiful morning, well I don't think for you, because school starts again! Whatever, I hope this day won't be too bad for you because it will be warm and sunny all the day and …" groggily Pan switched off the radio alarm. First she wanted to blast it, but then decided against it. Someone could have been angry about it.

"Pan? Are you awake?" she heard Faith's voice from the outside.

"Yeah," she answered yawning and sat up.

"Good, the bathroom's free! Meet ya at breakfast."

The next thing Pan heard was Faith running down the stairs. She let herself fall back into her pillow and growled. Why was it already morning? She was still tired and didn't want to get up. Pan remembered the dream she had in the night. She had been in space with Trunks and another small kid of whom she could just see some kind of shadow. She was also younger than now and Trunks' hair was short… again. Shaking her head, Pan wondered, why she always imagined him with short hair. Maybe this was another thing she should ask him. "Pan! Aren't you up, yet?" she heard Faith shouting from the kitchen.

"Coming!" she yelled back and got up.

After having taken a refreshing shower, she went down and saw Faith and Dawn already sitting in the kitchen. "Morning," she greeted them. "Where's Trunks?"

"Morning," Dawn said. "He's at the Magic Box, helping Anya while Giles is in England."

With a sigh, Pan realized that she would now have to wait a whole day to ask him those weird questions. She just wanted to toast a piece of bread as Faith and Dawn stood up. "Hey, what are you doing?"

"Sorry P, but you don't have time for breakfast. We're already a bit late."

Mumbling, Pan grabbed her bag and followed the other to girls. When yesterday had been the best day of her life, this day would be the worst, Pan decided when she left the house.

~*~

"According to your files, if you have any, at least one of you had a troubled past, and we don't know of the past of the other." Faith and Pan were sitting in the office of their new High School. In front of them sat a black and plump woman around fifty. The two Slayers felt more than a bit uncomfortable under the gaze of the strict looking principal. "I hope you know that we don't tolerate troublemakers." Both girls swallowed hard. "And I will personally take care of everyone who dares to trouble you. Welcome at Wilkins High," the woman said smiling.

"Wow, that went better than I thought," Pan said as they walked over the campus.

"I can't believe they named this school after him. He was the reason that Sunnydale High was destroyed and yet they named this school after him. I can't believe it."

"You already said that Faith," Pan said chuckling. "But I think we should go now to the library, getting the books we need."

"I think you're right. But P, think of it. They could at least call it Buffy High, or Summers High or … or Slayers High, but please, not Wilkins High. I know, for a short time he was like a father for me, but what he did was simply wrong and he was a demon. I realize that now. But who names a school after a demon? I mean…"

Pan sighed, pointedly ignoring Faith's rather uncharacteristic whining. This would be a long, a very long day… At that moment he stomach grumbled. And she was starving!

~*~

"Mr. Travers, here's someone who wants to meet you," a female voice told the watcher over the intercom.

"Who is it?"

"He says his name is… Hey, you can't just go in there! Stop!" At that moment the door to the office was opened and Giles stepped in, followed by the secretary. "I'm sorry Mr. Travers, but I couldn't stop him."

"It's okay Nancy. You can go." The secretary left and closed the door. "Rupert, what a surprise! What are you doing here?"

"You know exactly what I'm doing here, Quentin. I'm here because of the books you're refusing to hand over to me. I know very well that you possess them." Giles had a hard time to suppress the anger in his voice.

"Okay Rupert, I admit it. The Council possesses those books. But they're not here right now. We need them in Asia at the moment and we won't get them back in the next three months. I promise you to tell you at once when we've got them back," Travers told him smiling. "But now Rupert, sit down. Do you want some tea?" Giles sat down and shook his head. "Well, now tell me. How are Faith and … Pan?"

"They're doing fine. A-and they're really strong. The vampires and demons are afraid of them."

"And the young man, what was his name? You know, the one from the other dimension."

"Oh, Trunks. Yeah, he helps a lot."

-

Buffy just wanted to knock at the door, when she heard the muffled voices from inside. She just wanted to leave, when she heard something that gained her attention.

"I know, the loss of your Slayer…" she heard Travers voice saying.

"Buffy, her name was Buffy. And she was not just a Slayer…" the other voice said.

Buffy looked around and noticed that the secretary was nowhere to be seen. Not longer thinking about what to do, she pressed her ear against the door, trying to listen.

"I know she was like a daughter to you. But Rupert, she's gone now, for three months."

"That was not what I wanted to say. She was not just a Slayer. She was a young and strong woman. Not just physically, also mentally. She had to go through so much, I sometimes don't know how she managed her life. I respected her, fully and I admired her for that. … And yes, you're right. She was like a daughter to me."

Buffy was taken aback. Could they talk about her? She shook her head. It was impossible. She didn't even know this voice. He couldn't talk about her. Suddenly she heard the two men moving inside of the room.

"I'm sorry Rupert, but I have an important appointment. But I will call you when the books are back."

"Alright, I wanted to leave anyway. Goodbye Quentin."

"Goodbye Rupert."

Buffy heard footsteps coming towards the door and she quickly hid behind the desk of the secretary, hoping that they wouldn't notice her. She saw as the door was opened and a man, she guessed this Rupert-guy, stepped out, closing the door behind him. She looked him up and down, but he wasn't familiar to her. No, she decided, he hadn't been talking about her. Getting uncomfortable, she moved a bit, but hit her head at the table. Inwardly cursing she hoped that the man hadn't noticed her. From where she hid, she could see that the man stopped and looked around, searching for the source of the noise. Buffy held her breath, silently praying of not being discovered. She almost sighed with relief, when the man turned around and left.

~*~

"Oh my god. I can't believe that I survived this day!" Pan whined, as she entered the Magic Box, followed by Faith and Dawn. She threw her bag on the table and let herself falling into a chair.

Laughing, Faith followed her example. "Come on P, it wasn't that bad. But I can't believe that you ate almost all of the food of the cafeteria."

"Now you're exaggerating. I didn't eat almost all the food. I was just extremely hungry since _you_ didn't allow me to have breakfast this morning… And besides, since when do you call me P?"

"I'm just in a good mood, P," Faith said still laughing.

"You? In a good mood? You were whining all the day about the name of the school," Pan teased her.

"Faith? Whining? Did I miss something?" Spike, who just came out of the shop's back, asked. "I mean, this is so out of character."

"Yes, she was whining. All day," Pan complained growling.

"Oh please. Can't someone go and get Trunks to make her happy again?" Faith asked laughing.

Spike chuckled and turned around. "Don't worry luv, I'll get him for ya."

Not even thirty seconds later Trunks rushed into the front of the shop with a can of coke in his hand. "Pan? Are you okay? Spike told me that you needed to see me," he asked worried and looked around confused, when Dawn and Faith began to laugh hysterically. "Did I miss something?"

"Don't worry Trunks. Little Panny here is just in a bad mood." Faith stood up and offered her chair next to Pan's for the half-Saiyajin. "We didn't let her eat breakfast," she whispered in his ear as she walked past him.

"I heard that!" they heard Pan saying and Trunks went to her grinning.

He sat down, put the can on the table and put his arm around her shoulder, pulling her close. He kissed her lightly on her cheek and then moved his mouth to her ear. "And what can I do to make you feel better?"

"Let me go patrolling tonight. I feel the urge to kill something," Pan said seriously.

"As you wish my lady," he said, nibbling at her earlobe.

Suddenly Pan remembered what she wanted to ask Trunks. "Trunks, may I ask you something?"

"Sure." Trunks pulled away, facing Pan and taking a nip from his coke.

"Are you a prince?" she asked bluntly.

Trunks, who didn't expect that kind of question swallowed the wrong way and began to cough hard. It took about a minute till he could breath freely again and he looked questioning at Pan. "How do you know that?"

"Wait a minute, does that mean you are a prince?" Faith now wanted to know.

"Well, I don't know if you really can call me a prince. At least, my father was one. He was the prince of the Saiyajins, back when they still existed," he told them.

"But your father's dead, and that means that you are his heir. You're now the prince of all Saiyajins," Pan said matter-of-factly. "Trunks, I have another question for you."

"O-okay, spill it out," Trunks, who was still a bit stunned by the fact that Pan seemed to know about his heritage, said.

"Have you ever worn your hair short? I mean at this length?" Pan asked him, while showing with her hand the hair length of the Trunks of her dream. But from the priceless look on his face she could already tell. "Yes, you have."

Faith shuddered. "Okay, this is getting scary."

"How… How do you know about that?" he asked confused.

Pan shrugged. "I don't know where I got that idea from that you're a prince. It just popped in my head last night. And the thing with your hair, I saw you two times with it, in dreams. The first time as you taught us how to control ki and the second time was last night."

"C-can you show them to me? I mean through our bond?"

"Is that possible?" Trunks nodded. "Okay, I'll try." Pan concentrated and Trunks could see the same pictures Pan saw in her dreams.

It was strange to him, because he didn't remember ever having done those things. Well, maybe some things really had their origin in Pan's imagination. "Okay Pan. I think that has something to do with the bond we share. You must have found out about those things through it. I don't know another explanation."

"This sounds logical," Pan said. "Okay, can I now go slaying? It's almost dark outside," she asked impatiently.

Trunks shook his head. This girl really was impossible… But that was why he loved her so much. "Okay Panny, you can go. But I want to come with you."

Pan looked at him and finally nodded. "Okay, you can come with me." With that she grabbed a few stakes, tossed two to Trunks who strapped on his sword and threw one last helpless look at the two girls inside the shop, but they just shrugged, before he left.

Trunks swallowed hard, as he followed his girlfriend outside. He was pretty sure that he didn't want to be a vampire that night.

~*~

"Vampires! … Here vampires!" Trunks and Pan were sitting on a swing in a park near the cemeteries. They had already been through ten of them, but they didn't find any vampire, much to Pan's dislike. "Hello-o? God, why aren't here any vampires? There are always some, why not today? Every time I don't need them they're here to bother me and when I need them, they're not there! That's so not fair!"

"Panny, can't we go back? You have school tomorrow and I'm tired," Trunks asked as he leaned back on his swing, letting his head hang down.

"No, I told you I need to kill something. Or to fight something… Can't we spar a bit?" Pan asked whining.

"Uhm, Panny…" Trunks tried to get her attention.

"I mean, don't you know the feeling when you absolutely need this to let out your anger?" she asked, ignoring him.

"Panny, we're getting a guest…"

"Vampire?" she asked all of sudden interested.

"No, no vampire…"

Pan was disappointed. "No vampire?"

"No, but big green slimy demon…" he informed her.

"Cool!" Pan said grinning.

She jumped off the swing and ran towards the demon. Before it could even react, it felt a sharp pain in his gut, coming from Pan's boot. Growling it lunged at the girl, but she dodged easily and punched it in the face, letting it stumble backwards. Without hesitating, she rushed forward and punched it again in its abdomen so that it fell to the ground. "Trunks! Sword!" Pan called out and Trunks tossed her his sword. Right at the moment, as the demon got up, Pan swung around and separated the head of the lower body. The head rolled on the floor, but green slime spattered all around the body, covering Pan from head to toe.

Grinning Pan walked back and gave Trunks his sword. "That was exactly what I needed," she said still grinning as she walked past her boyfriend. When she was a few yards away from him she turned around. "What are ya waiting for? I want to go home, because I think I need a shower!"

"Have I already told you that you're impossible?" Trunks asked her laughing, when he walked up to her.

"Yes, I think you already did that. But that's why you love me, right?" she teased him.

"Exactly."

"Kiss me!" she demanded.

"What?"

"I said, kiss me."

"But you're all slimy!" Trunks told her, leaning slowly forward so that their noses almost touched and then he suddenly walked away. "First shower, then kiss," he teased her.

"TRUNKS!" she yelled, running after him. "You'll pay for that!"


	11. Apocalypse, Arrival and Spikenapping

**Chapter 10: Apocalypse, Arrival and Spikenapping**

A half year had passed since Buffy's death and the appearance of the two part-Saiyajins in Sunnydale. One month ago they'd finally given up with searching a way to bring Buffy back to life and Trunks back to his own dimension. After constant research for five month and reading each bock at least twice they had reluctantly called it an end, because deep down in their hearts they still had hope that Buffy would be back some time.

It had been hard for all of them, but especially for Dawn. After Giles had heavy-heartedly announced that they would stop, Dawn had yelled at him, accused him of not caring, stormed out of the shop and when she finally had been home, broken down. She had really, truly hoped that they would find a way. And now all her hopes had been destroyed with those few single words Giles had said – _It's over_. The others had decided to give her some time alone and so it had first been late in the night, when Spike had gone to her room with two mugs of cocoa and talked to her. He had found her lying on the bed with her back turned to the door, Buffy's stuffed pig, Mr. Gordo, clutched tightly to her chest.

_Flashback_

_The tears had finally stopped flowing, but she still didn't feel like getting up or maybe even leaving her room. It still hurt so much. She had now completely lost her. Her sister was dead and she wouldn't come back, never, just like her mom. It shouldn't have been Buffy, it should have been her to jump. Her sister was more worth than she was – she was just a thing, a key!_

_"Hey Lil'Bit," she suddenly heard a soft voice saying._

_She turned around to see Spike standing there, holding to steaming mugs. "Go away," she said and lay again down with her back to him._

_Spike sighed, sat down and placed the two mugs on her bedside table, before he laid his hand on her shoulder, feeling her flinch under his touch. "Nibblet…"_

_"It should have been me," Dawn suddenly said. "I am the key. I was the one who'd opened the portal and I should have been the one to close it. If I had jumped, everyone would've been happy. Buffy would still be here, then."_

_"But she would have been unhappy, Dawn," Spike told her calmly. "She loved you and wherever she is now, I'm sure that she is happy, seeing that you fare well, that you are taken care of and mostly be proud of that you've become a strong and beautiful woman."_

_"But I'm just a thing, not more… I shouldn't even exist," she argued._

_Sighing exasperated, Spike ran a hand through his hair. "I thought we've already been through this. You are real, no matter what you think, you are. We all love you, Dawn, the person that you are and not the mystical blob of energy that you were. But Buffy loved you more than anyone else. You know what happened to her, after you were kidnapped by Glory. She couldn't bear losing you – that's the reason why she jumped. You were more to her than a simple sister. You were a part of her. When Giles had told us that night that the only way to close the portal was to kill you, Buffy refused to do that. When he had explained to her what would happen, if she saved your life _after_ the portal was opened, told her that everyone on this planet would suffer unbearable torment and death, do you know what your sister said?" Dawn shook her head, but turned to look at Spike with a curious look on her face. "She said that if that happened, the last thing you would see is her protecting you."_

_"Is that true?" she wanted to know._

_"Every single word," Spike said. "You can be proud of big sis. She had prevented how many apocalypses? Six? Seven? I know it is hard, for all of us, but after everything she has done for us, we should also do something for her and let her rest in peace. So stop blaming yourself, because it has been her time and I think she knew this. She was ready to leave this plane of existence and go over to the next one – one where she doesn't have to be the Slayer ever again."_

_End Flashback_

That night the two of them had still talked for a long time, mostly reliving memories of Buffy until Dawn had fallen asleep during one of Spike's stories. _Be brave. Live. For me. _After that night Dawn finally accepted that Buffy was dead, but that she would see her again, some time when it was her time to pass away and until then she would do what her sister had told her.

-

For Trunks it also wasn't easy to accept that he could never go back to his own world. He would never see his mother again and he knew that he couldn't stop Cell from going to the past or destroying his world. It had hurt very much, when he had realized that it wasn't possible to return, and the demon world had suffered that night and the nights after that, as Trunks had used them as outlet of his anger and pain. The only comfort had been Pan during the long days after and eventually she had helped him to come to terms with this. She had helped him to realize that he wasn't alone in this world. He had found love and friends. He and Pan had now been a couple for about three months and almost inseparable and somehow he liked this life. He had begun working on a regular basis at the magic shop and also helped to develop new weapons to fight demons and he was still training the girls. He was of course worried and angry that he couldn't do anything to protect his world, but at least he was now able to help protecting this world – his new home.

Pan was slowly getting parts of her memory back without even noticing it. She was having strange dreams now and then about her and Trunks, well the other Trunks, but she didn't know it, and about some other people. Trunks had once shown her a picture of the Z-Warriors, which had been taken when he had been in the past, and she recognized them as the people of her dreams. But both, Trunks and her, always thought that she saw the people through their bond and that she was dreaming of them because of that. They never even thought about the possibility that those dreams could have been hidden memories of Pan.

Except for those strange dreams, her life was fine. During the day, she was going to school, together with Faith, like a normal girl and at night they were fighting demons and vampires. Surprisingly for all of them it turned out that both girls were pretty smart. After a few problems at the beginning, they didn't have any further problems and were actually getting pretty good results in their tests. Well, once or twice they had been called into the principal's office after having been in a fight, but it didn't bother them that much, because they were just fighting others when they had reasons. Those reasons were for example helping other people or when someone who thought he was strong, really pissed them off. But soon everyone at school found out that it was better not to piss them off or enrage them, if you didn't want to visit the infirmary.

All in all, life couldn't be better. In the last month there was even something you could call peace in Sunnydale. It was rare that someone was nearly killed and the gang hadn't seen a vampire in a long time. Almost every night they came home without killing something. They should be happy about this, but, believe it or not, the Scoobies were bored stiff by this lack of fighting and killing evil. Especially Dawn was disappointed by this. When she had turned fifteen about a month ago, the others had finally allowed her to go slaying with them, since she was now as strong as a normal Slayer would be, thanks to Trunks' training. And how many vampires had she slain since then? One, the one and only she met during her patrols in the last month. It was calm, almost too calm.

"Guys, I'm bo-ored," Dawn pouted. "B. O. R. E. D. I really don't know how any normal teenager could live in Sunnydale…" She leaned back in her chair and crossed the arms over her chest. She, Pan and Faith just got back from school and met with the others in the Magic Box. Faith was looking through the shelves and Pan was sitting in Trunks' lap, her arms around his neck, when the bell at the door announced that someone had entered the shop.

"Trunks! Customer!" Anya shouted from the back of the shop.

Trunks sighed and easily lifted Pan up, placing her on the chair after he got up. "Stay there. I'll be right back."

"I think Dawn is right," Faith told the others. "Nothing has happened. Simply nothing…"

"Yeah, but I have some hope that tonight happens something, because of the full moon in the next three nights. And if there are just a few werewolves. I just want to fight something," Pan said.

"Pan could be right," Giles said absently while he was flipping through the pages of some old book. "So, who wants to go patrolling tonight?"

At that moment, Trunks came back, followed by Spike. He was the one who had come through the door. "I think that would be Spike and me."

"Can I come with you?" Pan wanted to know.

"No hon, sorry. Tomorrow is a school day and as far as I know you have to write a test in history, right?"

"Yes, I have to write one tomorrow. But I still can go patrolling. Please?" she asked him with puppy-dog eyes.

"No Panny, and this is my last word…" he said softly and kissed her.

"But…"

"Pan, listen to Trunks. This test is important for your education and I think that Spike and Trunks will be able to patrol without you," Giles told her sternly.

"Come on P, you can't argue with them about that. Let's go home, maybe we could still study a bit or watch TV," Faith said.

"Okay…" Pan gave in. "Dawn? Are you coming too?"

"Yep. Bye everyone!" With that they left the shop.

~*~

"Nancy told me you wanted to talk to me?" Buffy asked, when she entered Quentin Travers' office in the Watchers' Council.

"Yes, I wanted to tell you that your flight to Sunnydale leaves tonight at seven o'clock" he told her.

"Finally… I've waited long enough…"

"But before," he interrupted her, "you need to be informed about the people there. Follow me please…" Travers got up and led Buffy through a long hallway to a dark room with a screen in the front. "Stevenson, is everything ready?"

"Yes, sir. Everything is set."

"Very good. Buffy, please sit down and remember what I'll tell you now." Buffy obeyed and Quentin went to a slide projector. With a remote he showed the first picture. It showed a teenage girl with long and smooth brown hair. "The Key, Dawn Summers. Was sent in form of a sister to the former Slayer, fifteen years old. She's our main target. Whatever happens, you have to eliminate her." He pressed a button and the next picture of a middle-aged man appeared. "Rupert Giles." Buffy suddenly recognized the man she had seen here at the Council, while hiding behind the secretary's desk. She was a bit surprised that this man belonged to the group she was told to eliminate. "He's the Watcher of Faith and, well, Pan. He also watches over the Key. He owns a shop in Sunnydale, called the Magic Box." On the next picture she could see a girl with long dark hair and eyes of the same color. "Faith. Rogue Slayer. Disobeyed the Council several times. Killed humans and had been imprisoned for that. She's strong and stubborn."

Another girl appeared on the next picture. This time one with shoulder length black hair. "Pan. She has lost her memory, when she fell, or jumped, off a roof. We made them believe that she's a Slayer. Is extraordinary strong, but she's still a mystery for us."

The next picture showed a pale young man with bleach blond hair. "William the Bloody, also known as Spike. He's a vampire, but can't hurt humans due to a chip in his head, put in there by the government. He has already killed two Slayers before he got the chip. Protector of the Key. He shouldn't be a problem for you."

Next picture: a girl with red hair sitting next to another girl with blond hair. "Those are Willow Rosenberg and Tara Maclay. Both are witches and very powerful. Willow is also a specialist concerning computers and is able to hack into almost every system. Those two women are also an item."

Next Picture. "Alexander LaVelle Harris, called Xander. Normal human. No specific powers. He really won't be a problem for you."

Next picture. "Ex-vengeance demon Anyanka. Known as Anya in this world. She knows some things about magic. Engaged to Harris."

A new photo appeared. "This is Trunks. We don't know much about him. Comes from another dimension and is extreme powerful. Be careful around him. We are thinking that he has secrets… So, those were the people from Sunnydale you need to know. But now I want to show you pictures of friends of them who live in Los Angeles."

He clicked and the next picture was seen on the screen. "Angel. Vampire. Cursed with a soul. In vampire circles better known as Angelus. Owns an agency. Angel Investigations. Be careful around him."

Next picture. "Cordelia Chase. Lived in Sunnydale, works for Angel now. She gets visions from the Powers That Be."

With one last click the last photo appeared. "And Wesley Wyndam-Pryce. He was one of our Watchers, but he was unqualified, so we fired him after his fiasco with Faith. He's also working for Angel." Travers put the remote on the table and sat down on a chair next to it.

"Doesn't sound too difficult," Buffy told him.

"You may be right, but I can just warn you. Don't underestimate them. I don't want to lose my best Slayer."

Buffy got up and walked up to Travers and clapped him on his shoulder. "Don't worry. I'll take them down one at time. They won't even notice what's going on until it's too late." She turned around and walked to the door. "I'll go and pack my clothes. I'm on my room when you're looking for me."

"Do you really think it's safe to let her go to Sunnydale?" Stevenson asked after Buffy left.

"I think it's safe. This girl is extraordinary. In a few days," Travers said, smirking confidently and clicked back to the first picture, "the Key will be dead."

~*~

"I can't believe it…" Trunks said, shaking his head. "Nothing, again. Not even a werewolf." He and Spike had been patrolling all twelve graveyards of Sunnydale and in the forest, but they didn't find anything.

"I know it sounds strange when I say it, but isn't this kind of – scary? I mean, we're in Sunnyhell, on the Hellmouth. Demons and vampires are supposed to live here." Spike stopped and lit a cigarette. "Want one?" he asked Trunks, but the half-Saiyajin shook his head. "Okay…" He put the cigarettes back into his pocket. "Tell me Boxer Boy… why didn't you want Pan to go with us?"

"I already told you. She has school tomorrow and writes an important test," Trunks told him.

"Liar. That's not the whole truth. I've noticed it. Every time when there's a full moon you're going with anyone but Pan on patrol. There must be a reason for it…"

Trunks sighed. He had skirted around the subject for a long time already, always trying to stay away from Pan during the full moon nights, but it was time that he at least told someone about it. And why not someone, who wasn't human himself? Spike would understand him, he was sure of that. "Saiyajin instincts…"

"Saiyajin instincts? Sorry, but you have to elaborate a bit more…" Spike said raising an eyebrow.

"Saiyajins are influenced by the full moon. They act more after their instincts then."

"So what?"

"You must know… I don't want to force Pan into something and I know that my instincts would take over when I'm with her and…"

"And?"

"Those instincts will tell me to … mate with her… And I know that I could force her to do that and I don't want that. I don't want to sleep with her when she isn't ready…"

"Ah, I understand… don't worry, I'll support you in the following months…" Spike said as he slapped on the young Saiyajins shoulder. Spike then exhaled some grey smoke and sighed as well. "I think I understand you better than you might think. Fighting against your instincts, when what you want is directly in front of you…"

"You really loved her, didn't you?" Trunks wanted to know, as he looked at the sky. There was only one person, whom he would talk about with this sad and wistful tone in his voice. It wasn't the first time that Trunks regretted never having gotten to know Buffy. She must have been a truly amazing woman.

"Yes, I still do. It almost tore me apart, when she died, but I had to be strong. I promised her to protect the Lil'Bit, and I had to be strong, for her. Luckily you, Faith and Pan helped me a lot. I know it sounds strange, but I've never felt something like this before. If I believed in it, I would say it was true love."

Trunks didn't say anything about it. He didn't even want to imagine how it would feel, if he lost Pan for whatever reason. Would he be strong enough to go on living after that? Shaking his head, Trunks decided that he really didn't want to think about it. "We should go home soon," he eventually said, after looking at the sky. "The sun will rise soon."

~*~

It was early in the morning, around half past nine and Giles was sitting on the couch in his living room. Next to the many old books on the table was a cup of cold coffee. Giles' hair was messy and he was wearing the same clothes he had already worn the day before. He was obviously searching for something in those books. Suddenly he got a look of shock on his face and jumped up, getting another book from his shelves and leafed through it and the look on his face changed from 'shocked' to 'realization and shock'. "Bloody hell." He quickly went to the phone and dialed a well-known number. "Hello? … Spike? It's Giles. … Where are the girls? … Oh, yeah right. … And Trunks? … Then wake him up … and - and send him to the High School. … He needs to get the girls when they've finished writing their test … I'll explain everything later. … Yes, in the Magic Box, as soon as possible. … Spike! Please, it's important! So, do what I say! Bye!" He hung up, grabbed his car key and left his apartment.

~*~

Dumbfounded Spike hung up the phone. "Why was he so upset?" He asked no one in particular and shrugged. "Well, better wake up Trunks… But I'm not sure if he likes it." Grinning he walked up the stairs. "Boxer Boy!"

Just a few minutes later, both were sitting in the kitchen and Trunks was drinking his coffee. "So, what exactly did Giles say?"

"Well, nothing… Just that I should send you to get the girls and that we will meet at the shop. Nothing else… But he really sounded upset." Both thought a bit and then Spike suddenly lightened up. "Hey, maybe there's a new dangerous demon in town or the Hellmouth will reopen again."

Trunks smiled. "But if we don't go now, we won't find out. I'll drop you off at the shop."

~*~

About half an hour later Trunks was standing in front of the Wilkins High, waiting for the three girls. _'Hey Pan! How far are you with your test?'_ he asked through their bond.

Startled Pan jumped up from her chair, much to the surprise of the teacher. Grinning the typical goofy Son-grin she sat back down. _'Trunks? Don't scare me like that! I'm almost finished.'_

_'Sorry… How far is Faith?'_

Pan looked over to the other dark haired Slayer and smiled as she closed the test book. Faith looked at her and smiled back. _'She has just closed her book.'_

_'Good, then I just have to look for Dawn. Meet me outside at the parking lots. We have to go to the shop. Giles is waiting there for us. Spike said Giles was upset at the phone.'_

_'New demon?' _she asked him grinning.

_'Could be… But now finish your test. I'll go get Dawn and Faith.'_

_'Okay.'_

~*~

Another half an hour later Trunks, Pan, Faith and Dawn arrived at the Magic Box. All the other Scoobies were already gathered, just waiting for them so that Giles would finally begin to explain everything. "So, what's the deal?" Faith asked as she sat down.

"Yeah Giles. You got us out of school, so there must be something important. Is there a new demon or something like that?" Pan wanted to know.

"Well, to be precise…" Giles began but was interrupted by Xander.

"Okay, Ladies and Gentlemen, the betting office is still open! Who wants to bet?"

"I say someone's out to kill the Slayer," Dawn said, giving Xander five dollars.

"Trunks and I think that there's some dangerous demon who's looking for something," Pan told him, giving him ten dollars, five from Trunks and five from her.

"And what do you think Faith? Everyone else has already said what he or she thinks," Xander wanted to know.

"Xander, please, that's not the time for bets," Giles said despairing.

"The Hellmouth will reopen again tonight," Faith told him and handed him also five dollars.

"Okay G-Man, what's up?" Xander asked as he counted the money.

"Well, Faith was right. The Hellmouth will reopen again," Giles admitted, cleaning his glasses.

"Okay, but Faith, you have to share the money. Deadboy Jr. also said it was the Hellmouth," Xander told them. The two men smirked at each other and everyone who hadn't been with the Scoobies for the last six months would ask themselves why they didn't hate each other anymore. Well, after Buffy's death the group grew closer together, resulting in a truce between Xander and Spike.

"Finally some action!" Pan exclaimed grinning from on ear to another, while Faith and Spike high-fived each other and received the money from Xander.

"Pan, please… it's serious. When the Hellmouth opens again, it could be the end of the world," Giles told her.

"Aw, come on Giles… We have two Slayers, a Key that is as strong as a Slayer, two witches, a vampire and a half-alien…" Faith said. "This should be fun."

"But this time we can't all fight against the monster… And the monster might have grown again…" Giles said.

"And why can't we all fight it?" Faith wanted to know.

"Well… This prophecy says that three demons will open the Hellmouth. They will be on three sacred places, which will be the corners of a triangle. The intersection of the bisector of the angles will be on the Hellmouth."

"So, we just have to kill those three guys and everything will be fine?" Spike asked.

"If it were that easy, I wouldn't be worried," Giles told the vampire. "We have to stop them from doing a ritual to open the Hellmouth, but we don't know what and where those sacred places are… That's the problem."

"Then I'll guess we have to find out. I'm sure Red here finds a few maps of Sunnydale and so called 'sacred places' on the Internet," the peroxide blond vampire said, turning to Willow.

"What are you all waiting for?" Pan asked excitedly. "Let's save the world!"

~*~

While every one of the Scoobies was busy in Sunnydale, Buffy arrived at the airport in Sunnydale. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a black tank top, which showed a bit of her belly. Leaving the terminal she stepped out of the customs hall and looked around. "Finally," she simply said, when she went to a taxi that should bring her to her hotel.

"Your name, please?" the receptionist asked her, when Buffy wanted to check in at her hotel.

"Travers. Buffy Travers."

"Okay Ms. Travers. You're in room number 224. Enjoy your stay."

After Buffy had unpacked her clothes, she went to the bathroom and took a long bath, relaxing before the beginning of her mission. "Let's see, tonight I will slay a few vampires and maybe I'll meet some of my 'friends'."

~*~

"Giles! Giles! I think I've found something!" Willow shouted excitedly to the back of the shop.

"What is it?" the Watcher asked. He and the others were now standing behind Willow, looking over her shoulder at the screen.

"Look, here's the Hellmouth," the witch said. pointing to a x at a map. "And those," she typed something on her laptop and a triangle appeared on the screen with the bisectors of the angles, which were crossed at the x, "are the sacred places." She pointed to the three corners of the triangle. "The two down here are altars, but I don't know what it is at the third point."

"Let me see." Anya shoved the others away so that she could also see what was going on. "Oh, that's easy. That's an old temple. Used by some monks about thousand years ago." Everyone stared at her. "Hey, it does have its advantages of being an 1122 years old ex-demon."

"Thank you, Anya… This is really good. I also just found a spell to close the Hellmouth again, if the demons succeed with their own spell. But it is kind of dangerous and I would need the help Willow's and Tara's help," Giles said.

"Okay Giles. What do we have to do?" Willow wanted to know.

"Well, to be honest. We need one experienced magician or witch to lead the other two. And I think the most experienced among us is you Willow."

"That's okay with me. Do you have a plan?"

"Yes, I have… We need to split into four groups. Three groups go to the sacred places and the last group goes to the Sunnydale High, fighting the monster, in case the demons will succeed. I thought that the groups would look like this. The first team will be Willow and Spike, the second Tara and Faith, the third Dawn and me and fourth Pan and Trunks. Xander and Anya can self decide if they want to go with us, but I need at least one who practices magic and one fighter in the first three groups. Any questions?"

"Yeah, I have one," Spike said, remembering what Trunks had told him about the full moon and it's effects of Trunks, if he were with Pan and the most likely consequences of that situation. "Why can't I go with Trunks and Pan with Willow?"

"That's simple. We don't know how strong the monster has gotten. And Pan and Trunks are the two strongest here. That's why I send them together. Any more questions? No? Good, that's the plan." So, Giles explained to the gang the plan he had thought of. Spike, Faith and Dawn should either kill the demons before they could finish the ritual, or fight them , if they have finished it, while Willow, Tara and Giles were doing the spell, because as long as the Hellmouth was open, those demons were invincible. Pan and Trunks should go to the Hellmouth to fight the monster, to prevent that it spread across Sunnydale. According to the prophecy, the demons would open the Hellmouth at around midnight, so they decided to go to the places before twelve o'clock.

~*~

A few hours later everything was set and the groups were on their ways. Everyone had the things they needed and each group also had a walkie-talkie. It wasn't a long way from Giles' shop to the ruins of the Sunnydale High, but Pan noticed that Trunks was unusually silent the whole time. She for herself felt a strange sensation in her body since the sun was down and Trunks was near, but she couldn't put a finger on it. After a short walk they finally stood in front of what was once the High School. Pan took Trunks' hand and squeezed it a bit, motioning with her head to go inside. Giles had explained them the way to the former library, where the Hellmouth was and so they searched their way through the rocks and remainders of the mayor until they stood around a hole in the floor. "So, that's the Hellmouth," Pan said somewhat in awe and Trunks just nodded. "And what shall we do now? Wait and hope that this beast won't show up?"

"I think that is a good idea, but I'll tell Giles first that we're here."

~*~

_'Giles? It's Trunks,'_ Giles heard at his walkie-talkie.

"Is everything okay with you?" he asked.

_'Yes, everything's fine. No monster till now.'_

"Good, but watch out. We're almost there. Over."

_'Over and out.'_

Giles and Dawn reached the altar just in time to see how a demon in a black cape blew out the candle in front of him. At exactly the moment the light went off, an earthquake erupted through Sunnydale. "Giles? What was that?" Dawn asked him worried.

"We're too late," he simply stated and grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Trunks! We weren't on time! It's beginning!"

_'Okay! We felt the earthquake!'_

~*~

"Willow? Spike? Xander?" Faith shouted into her walkie-talkie, while she and Tara were now running towards the temple after the earthquake. "Did you feel that?"

_'Yes, we're too late. It's starting! Go to the place and tell Tara to position herself. She and Giles will feel when I've started.'_

"Okay, but be careful!" At that moment, they reached the altar, but instead of stopping at the point like Tara did it, Faith went on and knocked the demon a few feet away. "Tara! Now! I'll take care of him!" Tara nodded and got down on her knees, straightened her upper body and stretched her arms to both sides.

~*~

"Trunks, it's coming. I can feel it. It's powerful," Pan whispered in awe, as she and Trunks waited for the monster to appear. Not even a second later there was a second earthquake and the heads of the monster came out of the hole. It growled and lunged with its heads at the two fighters.

"Pan! Watch out!" he yelled, but too late and a tentacle sent Pan already in a wall. He tried to go over to help her, but was too occupied with the rest of the monster.

Groggily Pan opened her eyes and looked at the sky. Dark clouds were moving by fast and she could see flashes and felt how the wind was getting stronger. "So, this is how the end of the world looks like. But not as long as I'm still alive." She mumbled, before she got back up and lunged at monster.

~*~

About a minute later Willow, Xander and Spike had also reached the place and Spike immediately attacked the demon. Willow knelt down and put with Xander's help some things in front of her. She then grabbed her walkie-talkie. "Giles? Are you ready?"

_'Yes I am. Dawn takes care of the demon. You can start.'_

Without answering, the witch put the walkie-talkie away and stretched her arms from her body. She closed her eyes and began to chant something in Latin. After she chanted the first three lines she could feel how she was connected with Giles and Tara and the Hellmouth.

~*~

All three were now connected by the spell and the more Willow chanted the more they could feel the wind getting stronger, saw more and more lightning strike and they could hear thunder in the distance, but they also felt how strong the magic was that Willow used to close the Hellmouth.

But they weren't the only ones who were busy. Spike, Xander, Faith and Dawn, as well as Pan and Trunks were also had their hands full to hold off their opponents. Giles was completely right with what he had found out about those three demons. No matter what they tried, the demons absolutely didn't want to die. But their fight was also getting more difficult, because of the steady stronger growing storm and the rain, which began to fall.

For a short moment, Xander was able to catch a look at Willow. At the exact moment her eyes jerked open, but they first glowed golden before they went black and Willow began to chant even faster in a language Xander couldn't understand, but he could hear that it wasn't Latin anymore. "Spike! Is that supposed to happen?" he asked the vampire pointing to Willow.

"I don't know, but I hope it works!" Spike answered as she pushed the demon away from. "And fast!"

~*~

Pan slowly began to worry. At first it had been quite easy to stop the monster, but it was getting more difficult with every minute. Both of them had hit the walls quite a few times, but fortunately none of them were hurt badly until now and they hoped it would remain this way. Trunks had just cut off one of the tentacles, but this time he didn't pay attention to another one that hit him forcefully and let him flew through a few walls. "Trunks!" Pan shouted worried and instinctively put her hands to her side. "You just wait. Kame hame – HA!" A blue ball was formed between her palms and a blue beam hit the monster, letting it fall a bit back into the hole.

~*~

Xander didn't believe his eyes, as well as Spike, Dawn and Faith, because Willow, Giles and Tara all moved their arms to the direction of the Hellmouth. "What the hell is going on here?" Spike asked.

"I don't know, man."

Suddenly Willow closed her eyes again. "Tartre! Tartre!" She opened her eyes again and they were now glowing green. "TARTRE!"

In the palms of the three kneeling Scoobies small green spheres were formed and at the last 'Tartre' green/white beams were sent to the direction of the Hellmouth.

~*~

Pan stared in awe at what was happening right in front of her. From three different directions three beams came, which collided directly above the hole. Trunks had just come back into the room as Super Saiyajin, when the beams at the point where they met each other formed a huge green and white sphere surrounded by sparks. He tried to shield his eyes from the glaring light as well as Pan, but they weren't prepared for the huge explosion not even a second later. This explosion caused a shock wave, which sent both part-Saiyajins through the next best wall.

~*~

The Scoobies could see a light flicker a few hundred yards away and when the beam died in the palms of the three, they collapsed. At exactly the moment the beams died, the demons and the storm died as well and it was still just raining a bit.

Worried Xander and Spike were at once at Willow's side. "Willow? Will? Are you okay?" Xander asked, sounding clearly worried.

"Xander?" Willow said groggily. "Did we do it? Did we close the Hellmouth?"

"Yes, I think you did. Look, the storm's gone and the demons are dead. But please, don't scare me like that ever again, okay?"

"Okay… have you already talked to Giles and the others?"

"Not yet, but I'm sure they're fine. Hold on a minute, okay?" Willow nodded weakly and Xander took the walkie-talkie. "Hello? Here's Xander. Everything okay with you?"

_'Yes, I think so. Giles is a bit weak, but fine. I'll bring him home now.'_

_'Everything's five by five. I'll also bring Tara home.'_

"Fine, and how is it with you, Pan? Trunks?"

~*~

Pan slowly emerged out of the piles of rocks and Trunks climbed back through a hole in a wall. She bent down and picked up the walkie-talkie, which had miraculously survived the fight. "Yes, Xander? I think we're okay. Monster's gone, hole's closed. Me and Trunks are going home now."

_'Okay, I'll bring Willow home, but I don't know what Spike is planning… Hey Spike! No, I'm talking to her.'_ Pan could hear sounds of fighting over the walkie-talkie and chuckled lightly.

_'Pet? It's me, Spike. I'm not going home. I'll see if there are still some vampires outside who celebrate that the world didn't end.'_

"Okay Spike. See ya tomorrow."

_'See ya.'_

"Okay Trunks, I think we should go back now. I'm cold and my clothes are all drenched," Pan said shivering. Trunks nodded, took her hand and together they left the ruins of the Sunnydale High.

About ten minutes later, the rain had stopped in the meantime, they arrived at 1630 Revello Drive. Trunks wanted to go through the front door but Pan stopped him. "Trunks, we're all muddy and drenched. I don't want to make everything dirty inside. We can go through my window."

"Okay." He lifted her up and flew her in her room. Inside he let her down and when he saw that she was still shivering, he pulled her in an embrace. She rested her head on his chest, but he flinched away and winced.

At that moment Pan noticed that his shirt was not just wet from rain, but that there was also some blood on it. "Trunks, take that off," she demanded worried.

"It's okay, it isn't that bad. It will be gone by tomorrow."

"Nonsense, take it off. I have to see how bad it is." After Trunks looked in her eyes, he obeyed her and Pan felt again this strange sensation, when he looked into her eyes. Wincing lightly he pulled off his shirt and Pan could see a relatively small cut over his chest, which was already healing. Carefully she traced with her finger along the cut and felt a shiver run down Trunks' spine. She looked back into his eyes and felt the sensation inside her body growing.

When Trunks looked into her eyes he couldn't control his Saiyajin instincts anymore. He lifted up her chin and pulled her into a deep and passionate kiss. While she wrapped her arms around his neck, he put his arms around her waist, pulling her closer. He slowly pushed her backwards until both were lying on her bed, still kissing, just breaking the contact for the need of air and undressing.

After a few hours they laid next to each other, totally exhausted. It was the best both of them had ever experienced and Trunks felt that their bond was now almost completed. Almost. But now he was ready to complete it. He carefully rolled over to her and bit her gently in her neck. Acting after her instinct, Pan lifted her head and also bit him, marking him as hers. At exactly that moment memories flooded her mind. Memories of her family, friends, her adventures, the other Trunks, Goku and much more. After they let go of each other, Trunks laid back, his arms still around Pan and fell immediately asleep for exhaustion. Pan followed shortly afterwards, and she had a smile on her face. She remembered.

~*~

In the middle of the night Bulma jerked up in her bed. She didn't know how and why, but she suddenly knew where Pan was. But it was as if someone had told her in her dreams. She quickly got out of the bed, put on a bathrobe and ran to her lab. After typing something in her computer she grabbed the phone and dialed a well-known number. She waited impatiently and almost fell from her chair as she heard a sleepy _'Hello?'_ on the other side. "Gohan? It's me Bulma!"

_'Bulma? What do you want? It's four o'clock!'_

"Gohan, I found her! I found Pan!" Bulma told him excitedly.

'Sorry Bulma, but can you repeat that please… I just thought you said that you found Pan.'

"That's true! I found Pan! I suddenly knew where she is!"

_'Oh, okay…'_ he said, still sleepy, until his mind suddenly registered the true meaning of Bulma's words. '_YOU WHAT? I come over, at once! Make the machine ready! We have to go! NOW!'_

"Gohan! Wait! I think we should wait till morning! I still have to program the coordinates… You haven't seen her for six months, don't you think you could wait another few hours?"

_'Sorry, Bulma… It's just, I'm so happy… Wait a minute… Videl is just coming down… VIDEL! BULMA FOUND OUR LITTLE PANNY! Oh oh, she just fainted… Okay Bulma, at eight o'clock. Make sure that everything is ready… Oh, and I think that just Goten, Trunks, Vegeta and I should go… We don't know what kind of world she has gotten into… It would be safer…'_

"Okay, I'll tell them… Bye Gohan!"

_'Bye Bulma!'_

"Okay, and now telling the others." Bulma got up and went to Trunks room. She knocked and waited for an answer, but it didn't come. "TRUNKS! WAKE UP!"

After waiting a few seconds she heard footsteps inside and then the door opened. "Mom, what do you want? It's in the middle of the night."

"I thought you might be interested in hearing that I found out where Pan is and that you, your father, Gohan and Goten will go at eight o'clock to the other dimension and bring her back," she told him with a Vegeta like smirk.

Suddenly Trunks was fully awake. "Is that true mom? You found Pan? That's wonderful." He grabbed his mother and whirled her around.

"Trunks! Stop!" she said laughing.

"Oh, sorry mom," Trunks said and sat her back down. "It's just I'm so happy and that I finally can apologize."

"I know Trunks… Okay, now I just have to tell your father… I'm sure he will be happy as well."

~*~

"Hiya Vegeta!" Goku greeted him grinning. They were still at that lake and Goku was fishing a bit.

"Kakarotto. You again in my dream can just mean one thing."

"Yep, she remembers everything. The bond is completed."

"Good… Does the woman already know?"

"I just told her… Of course she doesn't know that it was me…" he said.

"Okay. Then I think I have to get up early this morning. I guess she already called your brat."

"You're right… I just wanted to tell you. And, I think it will be better if you go first alone to her… Remember: shop called Magic Box. Because I don't know how Gohan would react if he sees Trunks, I mean, Mirai Trunks. But I'll visit her later and tell her that you would come."

"Don't worry, I'll do that somehow… I think I go again, before the woman wakes me up. And I'm sure she will."

"Okay, and Vegeta?"

"What is it, Kakarotto?"

"You'll find a small present on the chair next to your bed. Hide it and show it first to the others when you've all met Pan," Goku told him with a secretive smile.

"I have no idea what you are talking about, but I'll do what you say. Goodbye Kakarotto."

"Bye Vegeta!"

~*~

Vegeta woke up and, after feeling disoriented for a split second, turned his head towards the chair next to his bed, just as Kakarotto had told him to do. There on the chair was a small bag. Now feeling curious, Vegeta swung his legs over the edge of the bed and took the bag into his hands. It wasn't really heavy and the content made some clinking noise. Wondering, but also already suspecting the contents, even though it shouldn't be possible, he opened the bag and looked inside. His eyes widened, as his impossible suspicion was confirmed. Inside, he could see seven sphere, the Dragonballs. He chuckled lightly. "Kakarotto… I would have never thought that I would say it someday. But… Thank you." He put this bag into another small bag, which he intended to take with him when he went to the other dimension.

He did that just in time, because not even ten seconds later Bulma burst into their bedroom. "VEGETA!"

"Shut up woman. I'm not deaf."

"Oh, sorry. I thought you were still sleeping…"

"Well, it was hard not to notice how you jumped out of our bed… But I guess it was a sign for that you finally found Kakarotto's grandbrat."

"Yeah, you're right… You, Trunks, Gohan and Goten will go this morning at eight o'clock to get her."

"Okay," he simply said and got back to bed.

~*~

"Angel Investigations, hello? … No, he's not here. But I'll tell him that you've called. Bye!" Cordelia quickly wrote a note and placed in on the desk. At that moment Angel and Wesley entered the office.

"Hey Cordelia! Something new?" Angel asked.

"Yeah, strange enough but there were some phone calls… In the middle of the oww."

"Oww?" Wesley asked, but when he saw that Cordelia grabbed her head he realized what was happening. "Oww!"

"Vision!" Angel shouted and was immediately at her side.

"Dragon… large dragon… Sunnydale…." But that was not all that Cordelia saw. She somehow felt that this dragon wouldn't be a danger and she saw Dawn standing in front of it. There were also pictures of Buffy and she heard the words 'human' and 'vampire'. As the vision faded she sat back down.

"A large dragon in Sunnydale? We have to go there at once!" Angel said and grabbed his coat. "Wesley, Cordelia, are you coming? We'll call Gunn and Fred later."

"Sure!" they answered in unison and followed him, but Cordelia smiled unnoticeably, because she knew more about the meaning of this vision than Angel or Wesley. But she didn't want to tell them, yet, in case she had misunderstood this vision and she didn't want to get her friend's hopes up.

~*~

Spike was wandering over the apparently countless cemeteries for two hours and he had already killed two vampires, who had come out of their hiding places. Suddenly he heard the sound of fighting and followed it. He just saw the dust of a vampire and how a stake was thrown at him. He barely dodged it and got back up. "Bloody hell Slay…" he answered instinctively, but then recognized the person in front of him. "…er."

"Wow, you know what I am? I'm impressed."

"B-Buffy?" he asked choking. He really couldn't believe his eyes and had to blink a few times, but the vision in front of him remained the same. This woman looked like Buffy, sounded like Buffy and even smelled like her. But it was impossible. Or was it?

"And you know my name!" He could detect some surprise in her voice, which was quickly covered by smugness. "And may I now know youre name?"

"B-but… It's me. Good ol' Spike."

Buffy raised an eyebrow, as she took in the vampire in front of her. A smirk graced her face, when she recognized him from the picture that Quentin had shown her. Somehow, when she had arrived here in Sunnydale, she hadn't expected that it would really be that easy to get rid of the pests that threatened the Council. "Of course, Spike, William the Bloody. Chipped vampire and pain in the Council's ass." She let out a short laugh, but this laugh was nothing like Spike remembered her to laugh. This sound was cruel and cold. "Oh, it will be so much fun to kill you." She lunged at him and Spike, still too stunned by this sudden and unexpected development, barely managed to block her attacks.

"Slayer – Buffy - what happened to you?" he asked confused. While she was still mostly the same, at least in appearance, her character was almost completely different. It reminded him of someone, who had been brainwashed. Then again, hadn't she mentioned something about the Council? Those bastards! He snarled, as realization hit him. The Council's unwillingness to cooperate with Giles, when he had discovered Pan and on other occasions. It was all just a game to them, to keep them from discovering that, one way or another, Buffy had come back to life. The only question was, how long had she been back and what had those bastards done to her to make her turn against her friends? It almost seemed as if she didn't even recognize him.

"Nothing happened," she replied coolly and used the chance of his being distracted. Whirling around, she extended her leg and hit his temple with the hard sole of her boot. Spike grunted in pain, as he was thrown around and collided with the wall of a crypt. His vision grew blurry, as he slid down the wall and remained lying on the ground. The last thing he saw before he blacked out, was Buffy standing in front of him, looking down at him with cold hazel eyes.


	12. Reunion (Part 1)

**Chapter 11: Reunion - Part 1**

Pan was lying in the grass at the lake near her parents' house, her arms behind her head and her eyes closed. She knew she always came to this place when she had to think about something or when she didn't feel good. This was the place where Goku had taught her how to fly, when she had been three years old and at this place she had decided to tell Trunks about her feelings the day everything had begun. But this time she really felt good, better than ever before, even though her head was so full of thoughts and memories that it was a bit overwhelming.

Earlier that night something had happened. She and Trunks had completed their bond and as that had happened, Pan had remembered everything what had just been a hole in her memories for the last six months. It was simply too good to be true. What if she just thought she remembered everything and that everything would be gone again the next morning? Pan began to shiver, when suddenly something or someone kept the warm sunbeams from reaching her body.

"Hey Panny!" a cheerful voice greeted her.

"Hey grandpa!" Pan answered smiling, but she still had her eyes closed.

"What's up Panny? No hug for your old grandpa?"

"Do you promise me not to be gone when I open my eyes or that I'll not just see your shadow again, like last time?" Pan asked and Goku could hear a hint of fear in her voice.

"Don't worry Panny. I won't go anywhere. I promise. You can open your eyes," he told her smiling and Pan listened to him. She blinked a few times so that her eyes could adjust to the light and she saw that her fear had been unfounded. Pan looked at Goku and didn't know if she should smile or cry. It had been such a long time since he had fused with the Dragonballs and disappeared with Shenlong.

"Grandpa!" she just shouted and jumped at his neck, hugging him tightly. Goku, who wasn't prepared for a greeting like this, stumbled backwards and eventually fell back. Laughing both of them got back up and sat down directly at the water. "I'm sorry grandpa… It has just been such a long time and I've missed you so much."

"I've missed you too, Panny. But I've always watched over you and the others…"

"If you've done that, I'm sure you can tell me how dad, mom and the others are," Pan said, hoping that she was right. Now that she remembered everything, she just knew that her parents and everyone else would be frantic with worry about her.

"Well, why don't you ask them tomorrow? I told Bulma where to find you, and Gohan, Goten, Vegeta and Trunks will come tomorrow and look for you in this world."

"Tomorrow already? Why so soon? I mean… I still have so much to do… I have to tell Trunks, I mean my Trunks, who I am. And this will already be hard enough. What can I say to him? 'Oh and by the way Trunks, I'm Son Pan, the daughter of your former sensei and I accidentally got into this world after I wanted to tell your other-self that I love him and I saw him with someone else, who is by the way the daughter of Krillin and Juuhachigou, your arch enemy and I couldn't see the portal because I've been blinded by the tears your other self caused to fall?' Oh yeah, I'm sure he wouldn't leave me after that," Pan finished her rambling with a sarcastic voice.

"Panny, he loves you. He would never leave you. Believe me, I know him. He would never hurt you. And besides, he marked you as his."

Pan carefully touched the bitemark on her neck, so reminiscent of a vampire bite, and yet completely different. "I hope you're right grandpa. And you really think they will find me tomorrow?"

Goku scratched the back of his head and laughed nervously. "To be honest, I gave them a small hint where to find you in Sunnydale."

"Okay…" Pan sighed, still not completely happy about this. Of course, she was happy that she would finally see her family again, but she believed that she needed just a bit more time to deal with everything and everyone else until then. There was just so much to do. "I just hope dad won't freak out about me and Trunks."

"I think the best way to find out is to tell him," Goku sighed and got back up. He wiped the dust from his orange gi and looked down at Pan. "Panny, I'm sorry, but I have to go now."

Feeling upset, Pan immediately also got to her feet. "Now? But we've just met. You can't go now! It's too early."

"Shenlong allowed me to talk to you because you needed my help. But now you don't need it anymore. That's why I have to go," Goku said and wiped a tear from Pan's eye.

"Will I see you again?" she asked in a desperate voice.

"I don't know Panny. Maybe. But I'll always be there when you need my help. Okay?"

"Okay…" Pan said sniffling and Goku walked over to her, hugging her tightly to his chest. He still couldn't believe how much she had grown. She had truly become a lovely young woman. "I love you grandpa."

"I love you, too. And please tell your grandma that I'm sorry that I left her again and that I love her with all my heart. Will you do that?" Goku could feel Pan nodding against his shoulder and smiled. "Thank you Panny."

Directly after he said that, Pan could feel him disappear in her arms and when she opened her eyes he was gone. "Thank you grandpa," she whispered with a light smile on her face as she lay back down in the grass and closed her eyes.

~*~

Pan woke up to the birds singing outside her window. She and Trunks had obviously forgotten to close it and the blinds the night before and so the sun was shining directly into her eyes. She sighed and snuggled deeper into Trunks' arms, who was still holding her as if he would never let her go. She looked at the clock on Trunks' side of the bed and it showed that it was just a few minutes past eight o'clock. She had just slept for a few hours, but she felt really happy. It wasn't just a dream, she really remembered who she was, and that was a huge relief. But the hardest part was still lying in ahead of her. Telling Trunks and the other Scoobies who she really was.

Sighing again she carefully slipped out of Trunks's embrace without waking him and got out of the bed. She grabbed a few clothes and before she left the room, she took one last look at Trunks, who had spread his body on the full size of the bed in the meantime. Pan chuckled lightly, because Trunks looked like a small and innocent schoolboy when he was sleeping. "I love you Trunks Vegeta Briefs," she whispered, before she left the room.

~*~

"Bulma, can't you work a bit faster on this machine? It's already nine o'clock!" Gohan growled in an exasperated voice, while he was pacing in front of the portal that would reunite him with his daughter.

"Sorry Gohan, but even I can't do magic. You could be glad that I've noticed this malfunction before you walked through this portal. Otherwise Dende knows where you would've ended up," Bulma told him, sounding clearly annoyed. Gohan had been acting like this for the past hour, ever since he had arrived and had seen that she was working on the machine.

"But I could've found her by now!" Gohan stopped where he was pacing and swung his fist back, ready to hit a metal wall in front of him.

"Gohan! NO!" Videl shouted, but he didn't listen and swung his fist at the wall. Videl squeezed her eyes shut, expecting a loud bang, but it never came. When she opened her eyes again, she could see that Vegeta was holding her snarling husband's wrist back, almost with ease.

"I wouldn't do that if I were you. Look." Vegeta pointed to the wall, showing that it belonged to the portal. "Or you would have to wait another few days before you can bring your brat back."

-

On the other side of the hall, Goten, Trunks, Bra and Marron were talking.

"Okay Trunks," Bra said, "whatever happens, let Pan make the first step. If she wants to insult you, let her do it. If she wants to beat you to a bloody pulp, let her do it. Understand?"

"Yes, Bra. I will do anything just to make her feel better. Oh god, you don't know how terrible I feel about this whole thing."

"You're right buddy," Goten said. "But this is your punishment for being so blind all the time. But don't worry, I'll stop her before she kills you."

"I hope you'll do that Son Goten, because I don't want to have a dead boyfriend. Oh, and Bra, you remember the first thing we want to do when Pan's back?" Marron asked her friend.

"How can I forget that? We will go shopping with my dear brother's credit card!" the younger version of Bulma said laughing.

A few minutes later, Bulma stepped out of the back of the machine and walked towards the men. She was cleaning her hands with a dirty cloth and there was grease all over her blue working clothing. "So guys, the portal's ready. You can go now if you want."

"Finally," Gohan mumbled and grabbed his backpack "Goten! Trunks! We can go!" He watched the young men saying goodbye to their girlfriends and walking towards him.

When everyone was ready, Bulma pressed a red button and a bluish and white vortex opened. The group stared at it in awe and Bulma walked towards Gohan and gave him something. "Here, that is the remote control. You know how it works." Gohan nodded at her and she took a few steps back. The four male Saiyajins exchanged quick looks, ready to take whatever might meet them on the other side, and then walked through the vortex, which closed behind them.

~*~

The portal opened in a crypt on one of the cemeteries in Sunnydale, waking up a few vampires who were living there. "What the hell is that?" one of them asked, staring at the blue and white whirl in fascination.

"I don't know," another answered. "But look, someone's coming out of it."

After the four men had stepped out of it, the vortex closed again. "Looks like we're not alone here," Vegeta stated matter-of-factly, when he saw the small group of vampires.

"Well, what do we have here? Looks like breakfast," the first vamp said, licking his lips.

"Breakfast? Where?" Goten asked confused, immediately thinking about eggs and bacon, and began to look around the crypt. There appeared a slightly crestfallen look on his face, when he didn't see any breakfast.

"Silly…" the second vampire said as he vamped out. "We mean you." The vampires lunged at them, but Vegeta just stretched his arm and sent a small ki blast at them, pulverizing them at once.

"Pathetic," he mumbled and walked to the door, carrying his bag over his shoulder.

"Dad, you've killed them," Trunks told him, staring at his father in shock.

"I know. But believe me. I did this world a favor. They were vampires."

"Vampires? I've always thought they didn't exist," Goten said, shaking his head.

"Oh no, they don't exist. As well as aliens don't exist. Are you coming now?" the Prince asked the other Saiyajins annoyed. He opened the door and left the crypt, followed by the others.

"And what shall we do now?" Goten wanted to know, after they had stepped into the harsh sunlight in the cemetery.

"I guess the best thing would be, if we split up to look for Pan. So our chances are better to find her fast," Gohan suggested. "Or what do you think Vegeta?"

"You're right. If one of us finds her, we will raise our ki high enough for the others to notice. And if we don't find her, we'll meet here again at sundown." Kakarotto had told him that the brat usually was found at a magic shop call the Magic Box, but he wouldn't go there, yet. If he had understood Kakarotto correctly, she had just remembered her past, and he guessed that she needed some time to figure things out and to talk to her friends. She just needed to keep her ki hidden, so that none of the others found her before she was ready. But the girl was smart, so Vegeta wasn't overly worried about that.

"Okay, either we find her or we meet here again at sundown. See ya!" Without another word, Trunks walked off and the other three Saiyajins followed his example and each of them left to another direction.

~*~

Vegeta had been walking through the streets of Sunnydale for about ten minutes, searching for someone who might help him to find the Magic Box, just so that he knew where it was. Suddenly he spotted a blue house with a blue sign on the top, where he could read the name of the shop. "Magic Box. It was easier to find than I thought. Now I can go a bit looking through this town and come back later," he mumbled to himself. At the same moment Vegeta wanted to leave again, a black car stopped directly in front of the shop. A young woman with shoulder length brown hair got out and opened the door to the shop, while a man with black hair and glasses opened the door of the passenger-seat of the car and another man with a black coat covering his body jumped out of the car and ran into the shop. The other two persons followed him and closed the door. Vegeta frowned slightly but quickly shook his head. Apparently this town was full of weird things.

~*~

"Hello customer, buy something and give me your mon…" Anya was looking for something behind the desk and stopped her speech as she got back up and saw Angel, Cordelia and Wesley standing in front of her. "Oh, it's just you."

"Hey Anya!" Angel greeted her. "Where's Giles?"

"He's in the back. Wait a second. GILES! ANGEL'S HERE!"

"Anya, what is going on?" Giles asked, when he came from the back of the shop. "Oh, hello Angel, Cordelia, Wesley. What brings you to Sunnydale?"

"Cordy had a vision of a large dragon appearing here in Sunnydale," Angel told him without beating around the bush.

"Oh, do you mean the Hellmouth beast?" Anya asked. "I mean, we had this yesterday. But luckily we were able to close the Hellmouth again."

"No, it was not the Hellmouth beast," Cordy said. "Believe me. I know how it looks like. It was just a really huge dragon."

"A-alright. Anya, call the others, please. I guess we have to do some research," Giles told her.

~*~

When Pan came out of the shower, she just heard how the front door closed. Curious about who that might be, she went downstairs, her hair still damp from the shower. On the kitchen desk she found a note with Faith's handwriting.

'Hey P! Anya just called. Angel's in town with Wes and Queen C. Said it was important, something about a vision Queen C had. Dawn and me didn't want to wake you after your, how should I say, exhausting night with Trunks. Just come when you've slept enough. I didn't hear Spike coming home last night. Maybe he's still sleeping. So, write him a note when you leave. See ya, Faith PS: Tell me everything later!'

Usually Pan would follow her at once, but she didn't feel like it this morning. She first had to talk to Trunks and then she could take care of Cordy's vision. She got a cup out of the cupboard and poured some coffee into it. Pan then sat down at the table and placed the cup in front of her. Grabbing the cup tightly between her palms, she sighed and waited for Trunks to wake up and join her, growing more nervous with each passing moment. There were so many things that could go wrong and Pan was really, truly scared that Trunks might not take the truth about her memories well.

~*~

As Spike slowly woke up, his whole body was aching like hell. "Oww, did someone get the number of the truck?" he mumbled groggily. And then there was also this weird dream. It could have just been a dream. It couldn't have been real. It was simply impossible. Shaking his head, he carefully opened his eyes and looked around, trying to figure out where he was. It looked like an old factory, but when he tried to get up, he was being held back. Raising his head slowly, he saw that his arms and legs were spread apart and tied to the floor. "Bloody hell, who did this?"

"Look who finally decided to wake up," he heard female voice say behind him. Spike froze, once again remembering the dream and he wondered, if it maybe hadn't been a dream at all. He knew this voice so well and yet it somehow wasn't the same. It sounded so… different. The next thing he heard were steps coming nearer and finally he could see the owner of this voice standing in front of him. It really was Buffy, wearing black leather pants, a black top and black boots. "And I thought you were so strong. As far as I remember you've killed two Slayers."

"Buffy?"

"You already said that last night. Yes, I'm Buffy, the Vampire Slayer. And you are William the Bloody, Spike."

"So, it wasn't a dream? You're alive?" Spike asked, the tone of his voice betraying his complete and utter disbelief. "No ghost?"

"No, I'm pretty much alive. And you're still undead. I should have staked you by now, but I still have some questions… And I want to have some fun," she said smirking, revealing a small bottle with clear fluid. "So, tell me something about Pan and Trunks… And how to kill the Key…"

"What?" Spike asked, staring at the Slayer – the same one who was supposed to be dead and was still somehow still alive - in shock. "You've got to be kidding! Killing Dawn! You sacrificed your life to save her, or have you forgotten this tiny fact?"

"Blah, blah, blah… Quentin warned me that you might resort to some wildly made up stories to get away… But I won't fall for them. Whatever, I guess this means that you don't want to play my game?" Buffy asked eventually, leaning over his upper body and ripping his shirt apart, looking at him with a cruel grin on her face. "Fine… Then I'll make you play it." She opened the bottle and dropped some of its content on his chest. When the fluid connected with the skin, steam rose up from it and Spike howled in agony. "Oh, and by the way… You see that window in the roof?" she asked him, motioning to a window directly over Spike. "Around noon the sun will shine down here, directly at you… I'll release you if you tell me everything I want to know… Otherwise I'll torture you until the sun will burn you… So, do you still want to work against me, or do you agree to help?"

"Buffy, you… you don't want…. to do this…" Spike said, ignoring her question completely, his face a grimace of pain.

"Believe me… I'll enjoy it…" she told him, as she sauntered to a table in the corner and grabbed a wooden cross. She slowly traced the edges of the cross on the way back and, once she was again kneeling next to Spike, pressed the cross against his chest on the already burned wounds, letting Spike scream in pain again.

~*~

Pan didn't know how long she had been sitting in the kitchen, staring down at the long cold and untouched dark liquid in the cup, when she finally heard steps on the stairs. Her breath caught in her throat, as she looked up. Her gaze passed over the clock and she realized with a shock that it was already half past ten. So much time had already passed and she hadn't even realized it, while she had been so lost in her thoughts about how to break the news to Trunks without having him run away at the end of the conversation.

Just before Trunks stepped into the kitchen with a huge grin on his face, Pan took one last deep breath. He went over to her and kissed her gently on the lips. Pan didn't respond, couldn't respond as tightly wound as she was at that moment, but Trunks didn't seem to notice, as his grin didn't even waver, when he asked, "Good morning Panny. Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did sleep well," Pan told him, as he took a seat on the other side of the table. She forced a smile on her face, trying to sound cheerful, but she noticed at once that she hadn't succeeded, when the smile on Trunks's face suddenly disappeared and was replaced by a look of regret.

"Pan…" he mumbled apologetically, looking at her imploringly. Guilt immediately rose up within him. He had known that it had been a mistake, that it had been too soon, that she hadn't been ready yet. "I'm sorry… I really am. I didn't want to force you last night, but… I don't want to make any excuses, but still, there was nothing I could have done to prevent that… I should have talked to you about it, I realize that now. See, you need to know…"

"Trunks, stop," Pan interrupted him. "I-I wanted it as badly as you… Honestly. Last night… it was wonderful, believe me…" Pan met his gaze, but the worried look on his face didn't disappear. She sighed deeply. "Really, you don't need to regret anything."

Trunks sighed with relief, sensing through their bond that she was really honest with him. However, if it wasn't what they did last night, what else was bothering her? "But… what is it? What's wrong? Something's bothering you, I can see it…"

Pan looked at him for a moment longer, before she realized that she couldn't procrastinate any longer. Trunks deserved to know, and in a way, Pan was also dying to tell him. So, after having taken a deep breath, she pulled her hair aside and revealed the mark on her neck. "I'm sure my dad wants to kill you when he sees this."

"What?" Trunks asked confused. This was the last thing he had expected her to say.

But Pan ignored his question, beginning to ramble, as her nervousness overwhelmed her, now wanting to get everything out into the open as quickly as possible. "You might think that he couldn't possibly be able to kill you, but believe me. After my grandfather died, he started training again and when he wants to do it, he will be able to kill you… You must know, my father is really overprotective when it comes to me. I'm his only daughter, his little baby. He didn't even want to teach me how to fight. I asked him on my third birthday, but he refused and told me that he could never train me. I asked my grandfather then, and he happily agreed. We started the same day with training. One year later I visited my first tournament…

"At this tournament my grandfather met another boy and left to train him. From this day on, the father of my best friend took over his job and continued my training. And believe me, this training wasn't easy. He didn't think of me as a little girl, he treated me like a fighter and he loved me like his own daughter, even though he never showed it. Ten years later my grandfather suddenly came back and he, a good friend of mine and I made a long trip. The trip took one year, and in this year the crush I had since my early childhood on my best friend deepened. After this year my grandfather died, or left us… We don't know exactly what has happened. That was about four years ago.

"The day where this woman found me here in Sunnydale, I wanted to tell my friend how I felt. I wanted to tell him that my feelings for him have grown stronger and that I was in love with him, even though he's fourteen years older than I am. On that day, just when I wanted to tell him this, I saw him in the park, kissing a girl, also a good friend of mine. When he noticed me, he told me smiling that they were a couple. It hit me hard to find out about them like this. I had believed for so long that he might return my feelings, and I couldn't hold my tears back any longer. He wanted to know what was bothering me and assured me that I could tell him everything since we're best friends. I just said 'Best friends. Yeah, that's what we were.' and left. He followed me, but I sped up… I couldn't see much because of the tears… And the next thing I know was waking up in the hospital, without my memories…"

Her tears had begun to fall during the tale, and when she had been talking about the incident in the park, the flow of tears had become stronger. Trunks wanted to comfort her, he just couldn't see her like this, and yet he didn't know what to do. He had listened patiently to her rambling, but the more she said, the more his shock grew, and now he was almost unable to do anything. At first he had been surprised to realize that somehow in the course of the last few hours, Pan had regained her memory. He should feel happy for her, but something else quickly destroyed the happiness – and Trunks immediately felt guilty about it.

What had destroyed this happiness was one simple thing: Pan had been in love with someone else before she had lost her memory. Her worst fear had become true. Was she still in love with this guy? She had once claimed that she wouldn't be able to love anyone from her past, because she loved him now. But love was a tricky thing. If her feelings for this other guy had been lost along with her memories, shouldn't her feelings have returned along with them?

"Trunks?" Pan asked carefully, as she watched the different emotions pass over his face. In the end, she could just see pain on his face, a pain so raw that it almost broke her heart. And she knew what had hurt him so much. He believed that she didn't love him anymore, which wasn't true. She just needed to make him understand that. "I-I remember everything… And everything I just told you is the truth. But I also didn't lie all the other times, when I told you that I love you. I do, I really do. I'm in love with _you_ now. Now, now that I know what love truly is, I realize that what I felt before for my friend was really just a crush. It has never been as deep and strong as what I feel for you. A-and I don't want you to think that I love you, because I had a crush on him. I fell in love with you without even knowing that he existed… Damn, I'm rambling again… everything's just so overwhelming. All the memories…" She shook her head. "I'm sorry…"

"Hey…" Trunks was immediately at her side, taking her hands into his own. He looked directly into her eyes, his own gaze soft. Her words sounded so sincere, and he could detect no lie through the bond, so how could he not believe her? It was true, it was overwhelming, but not just for her, even though he couldn't even begin to understand how she must feel. "I'm sorry, luv… I didn't want to hurt you. I just… You're right… it's surprising and overwhelming and right now, I'm not sure what to think. I'm glad, of course, that you have your memories back. It's just so sudden. But I believe you, when you tell me that you love me, because I love you, too. You can tell me everything and I won't judge you. You know that, right?"

A huge wave of relief washed over Pan, as Trunks said this. She entwined her fingers with his and pressed a gentle kiss to his lips. "Thank you…"

"You're welcome," Trunks replied with a soft smile tugging at his lips. "But I need to know one more thing: Is your name really Pan? Or do I need to get used to some other, weird name, like Joan?"

A laugh escaped Pan's lip, as she shook her head. "Don't worry, I'm still Pan…" But then, from one moment to another, she got serious again. "Trunks… I haven't told you everything, yet. And what I will tell you now is even more unbelievable. Either it's just one big coincidence, or the Powers wanted to mess with us a bit… So… Just… please just listen to me and don't interrupt me…"

"I'll do everything, Pan. What is it? You can tell me." He watched her closely, as she bit down on her lower lip, wondering what she might tell him that was so incredible.

"Alright…" Pan took a deep breath, and after having hesitated for a short moment, she finally said, "It's about my family… who they are. Trunks… You-you know my family, or at least some of them. My father is Gohan… Son Gohan. And my mother's maiden name is Videl Satan. She's Hercule Satan's daughter. As you can probably guess already, Son Goku is my other grandfather. And after you left, grandma ChiChi gave birth to another son, Goten. He was conceived shortly before the Cell Games. The one who trained me after grandpa Goku went away was your father, Vegeta. He and Bulma have gotten a second child, by the way. A girl, Bra. She's my best friend and just a year older than I am. Another good friend of me is Marron, the daughter of Krillin and Juuhachigou." Pan wanted to look away, too scared to meet Trunks's eyes, when he heard what she was going to say now. "It was Marron and the other Trunks who I saw that fateful day in the park. It was Trunks I had a crush on."

Shocked by this revelation, Trunks pulled his hands away, despite of what he had just told Pan. He leaned back and closed his eyes, having to think about what she had said. He had been ready to expect anything – that she was part demon, that her parents were some high and mighty politicians, superstars or something like that. But never, never in his wildest imagination, had he believed that she was part Saiyajin just like he was, and to top that, Son Gohan's daughter. But what was even worse than all of this combined, was the fact that she had admitted to having a crush on the other Trunks, who had still been just a baby, when he had been in the past the last time. And even though Pan had assured him that she didn't love him because of her former crush, Trunks still didn't know, if he really could believe it after all.

This was really a lot to think about.

~*~

After having wandered through the small town of Sunnydale for about two hours, during which he had encountered some beings that seemed to be classified as 'demons' in this dimension, the whole time wondering how a whole town could be in denial about what was right in front of their noses, Vegeta decided that he had waited long enough. The longer he waited, the higher were the chances that one of the other brats found her before he did.

Extending his senses one last time to make sure that the other Saiyajins weren't close, Vegeta pushed the door to the apparently rather small shop open. The doorbell chimed, but he ignored it, as he looked around. The shop was bigger than he had expected. His senses told him that there were two relatively high kis in the back of the building, along with some lower ones, not visible to him, but none of them belonged to the brat he was looking for.

Suddenly a female voice interrupted his thoughts. "Excuse me?"

He turned his head and first now noticed the human female. She had blonde hair, but this didn't appear to be her true hair color. Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he scowled deeply at the young woman, who was standing her ground, apparently not at all bothered by the unfriendly expression on his face. "What do you want?"

The young woman stemmed her hands into her hips, a move that reminded him too much of his own woman for his liking – this usually meant that whatever was said next was meant to sound bossy – and glared up at him. "In case you haven't noticed, this is a shop. And I work here, which means that I'm here to help you spend your money. But, if you don't plan on spending any money, I need to ask you to leave."

"You work here?" Vegeta asked. If that was really the case, she just had to know the brat. This would make his search much easier.

The young woman nodded, slightly confused. After all, she had already told him this, hadn't she? "Yes, I do work here. Anya at your service, at least if you want to buy something. Otherwise… shoo!"

An amused smirk tugged at Vegeta's lips, as he listened to the human. This one was certainly different. "I'm looking for the brat."

"I'm sorry," Anya said, sounding confused, "but we don't sell any bread. But maybe you want to have some candles or holy water," she suggested instead, showing him a small bottle with clear liquid and a black cross on the white tag.

Rolling his eyes, he said, "Stupid human. I'm not talking about bread. I meant 'brat', the girl. I was told she'd be here. And I don't want to buy any of this stuff."

"Hey!" Anya now snapped indignantly. "I already told you. If you don't want to leave your money here, you have to leave. So, go away!"

Alarmed by Anya's yelling, the Scoobies rushed from the back of the shop to the front, where the argument was taking place. "Ahn? Are you okay?" Xander, who was immediately by her side, asked her worriedly. He looked back and forth between his fiancé and the stranger, who had made her so angry.

"No, I'm not okay. This… _man_ just barges in here, demanding to see some _brat_ and doesn't even want to buy anything!"

With a dark look upon his face, Xander now turned towards Vegeta, though he felt slightly intimidated by the man in front of him. For some reason, he was giving him the creeps. Still, he gathered all his courage and said, "You heard her. Buy something or leave. Or else…"

"Or else… what?" Vegeta asked, slightly amused.

"Or else we remove you from this shop by force," Faith now stepped forward, already cracking her knuckles.

"I won't leave until you tell me where I find the brat. None of you can make me leave before that, neither by telling me to nor by using force," he told her matter-of-factly. "Kakarotto told me that I would find her here. So, where is she?"

"Who are you talking about?" the dark-haired Slayer now wanted to know.

Vegeta simply rolled his eyes again in annoyance, though he had to admit that the girl had the right spirit for a warrior and her ki was incredibly high for a human. "I'm talking about the girl. Her name's Pan, though I don't know if she maybe uses a different name here. I was told that she has lost her memories."

"A-are you family of her?" Giles eventually asked the stranger. He was still a bit wary, but if this man knew more about Pan, he might be useful to them. And maybe he could help Pan to regain parts, if not all of her memories.

"No, or, well yes… since last night I guess…" Vegeta answered. "But I'm also her teacher since she's been four years old."

"What do you want from her?" Willow wanted to know, sounding quite defensive. "Are you from the Council? Because if you are, I will only repeat Anyas request: Go away."

Vegeta was surprised to suddenly sense some power from this otherwise weak girl. This power was a bit darker and he wasn't sure what to think of it. Shaking his head, growing more annoyed with each passing moment, he answered, "No, I'm not from this Council. As for the reason, why I'm here: I was sent to this place to bring her and her mate back home where they belong."

The Scoobies just stared at him for a moment, which couldn't have been longer than a second, before all of them started to talk at once, some in outrage, others in confusion. Vegeta groaned, wondering what he had done to deserve this.


	13. Reunion (Part 2)

**Chapter 12: Reunion - Part 2**

Pan was slowly beginning to get even more nervous than she had been before and the tension in the kitchen was nearly unbearable. It had now been a few long minutes since she had told Trunks about herself and he hadn't said anything since her admission that she had had a crush on the other Trunks, before she had lost her memory. Tears prickled in her eyes, as the pain of his rejection became stronger. For a moment, for a very short moment, after Trunks had promised her that he wouldn't judge her, that she could tell him everything, and that he believed her, when she assured him of her love, she had believed that the worst had been behind them. But she had been wrong, she had been so wrong. Pan really should have realized that no matter what she had promised him before, she would still hurt him, when he found out about her feelings for the other Trunks.

"Trunks… please… say something…" she pleaded finally, her voice barely louder than a whisper. "You're scaring me…"

His eyes finally opened and Pan could see her own pain mirrored in their blue depths. "Pan, please… when you answer me now, don't lie. Not even to spare my feelings. I need to know the truth… Do you… do you still love him?"

"No," Pan replied immediately, almost forcefully, shaking her head, and then a confused look spread over her face. "I mean… Yes, I do still love him. As a friend. Like I love Bra… or Marron… or even Vegeta. But you're the one I fell in love with. No one else…"

"And you don't love me, just because I'm him?"

"No… I really don't…" Taking a deep breath, she took his hands again and squeezed them tightly. She looked directly into his eyes, needed to convince him that what she was telling him now was nothing but the truth. "You're not him. You're nothing like him. He's nothing compared to you. You're a completely different person than he is. Your life is completely different from his. He's Trunks Vegeta Brief, President of Capsule Corporation. Spoiled brat and lady-killer. But you… you are really different. You grew up in a world full of destruction. You lost almost all of your friends and family. You had to fight to survive and you did. You freed your world from the Jinzouningen. You're a very sensitive person and at the same time a great warrior. That's the reason I love you, Trunks Vegeta Briefs from the other timeline. I love you for who you are and not because your name's Trunks." The tears in her eyes began to fall. "And if you don't believe me… He, my dad, Vegeta and Goten arrived here in this dimension earlier this morning. They're here to bring me back. You can come with us, and then, from our dimension, you can go back to your timeline and forget all about me. It'll be as if I never existed."

She let go off his hands, after Trunks remained silent for a long moment, and got up from the chair. She didn't even bother to wipe the tears from her eyes, as she turned around and mumbled, "I think I'd better go then…"

"Wait!" Trunks was immediately on his feet and grabbed her shoulders, before she could leave. He gently persuaded her to turn around again and put a finger under her chin so that she had to look up at him. Using his thumb of the other hand, Trunks brushed the tears away. "Don't go, Pan. I couldn't bear losing you. It doesn't matter, who you've loved before. It's me, you love now, and that's all that matters. I believe you."

"Oh, Trunks!" Pan sobbed and collapsed into his arms. Trunks just held her tightly, murmuring loving words into her ear, while he was rubbing her back comfortingly.

While it was true that she had told him many shocking things this morning, at least some things made sense now. And it was also true that it didn't matter, if she had had a crush on the other Trunks before. Maybe he should even thank this other Trunks. Maybe, maybe her feelings for her old friend had somehow influenced how she felt for him now. But this wasn't important. After all, here she was, lying in his arms, and if he had any say in it, she would never have to leave them again.

~*~

Gohan had been walking around Sunnydale in search for his daughter for almost two hours already, and he still hadn't been successful. There was simply no sign of her, not even of her ki, which was quite unusual in itself. He should at least be able to feel her ki, if she wasn't hiding it. But why should she? He and the others hadn't kept their kis low, so she should be able to feel them, too.

The feeling that something was definitely wrong began to grow in him, especially as none of the others had raised their ki to signal that they had found her. Was she hiding from them – if yes, why? – on purpose, or was she maybe… No, Gohan didn't want to think about it. His daughter was still alive. She was a strong girl and could take care of herself. There was simply no way that she could have died.

Finally realizing that he wouldn't get any closer to finding her by just wandering around, Gohan decided to approach a group of girls that looked to be around Pan's age. Forcing himself to smile, he cleared his throats. The girls looked at him in disinterested and a bit annoyed at being disturbed by whatever they were doing. Gohan had to suppress a small wince, as he continued to smile and took the most recent picture he had of Pan out of the pocket of his shirt. "Excuse me, please. I'm looking for this girl. Do you maybe know her?"

The girls all looked at it – Gohan was relieved that they at least showed some interest now - and shook their heads, all except for one girl, who nodded. "I do."

"Really?" Gohan asked, relieved, while the other girls were looking at her friend in surprise.

"Yeah… She goes by the name of Pan. We're going to the same High School and she's in my biology class. I told you about her," she said to her friends. "It's the girl who has lost her memory."

"Lost her memory?" Gohan repeated stunned, his blood running cold.

"Ah, I remember… The freak with the handsome purple haired punk as boyfriend," one of the girls realized.

"Exactly that one," the first girl agreed, much to Gohan's horror.

"Wait a minute," he interrupted them, his voice sounding slightly faint. "Do you know where I can find her?"

"Sure…" the first girl who knew Pan said. "She often hangs out at a shop called Magic Box with other freaks, for example her best friends Faith and Dawn. I've heard that Faith was in jail for murder and that Dawn's sister committed suicide after the death of their mother and that she wanted to take the girl with her."

This was just getting better, or rather, this was just getting worse. Swallowing hard, he could only ask, "O-okay… and where do I find this shop?"

"Oh, it's pretty easy to find. Just go down that road 'till you're on main road and then you shouldn't miss it."

"Thank you," Gohan simply breathed, as he had already turned around to go. His thoughts were already completely focused on his daughter, his little girl. He shuddered. His poor daughter, poor Panny. If the girls had told him the truth, she didn't know who she was. And - he couldn't decide, if it was worse than her amnesia - she was hanging out with murderers and suicidal people. Criminals. And her boyfriend was a punk? Another shudder ran down his spine, before he resolutely raised his head and walked down to the main road. He now only had one mission: He had to get Pan out of here, as quickly as possible.

~*~

Pan had been lying in Trunks arms, her face buried in his chest, for some time already. She never wanted to let go, never wanted to leave this warmth, this feeling of comfort and safety, but she knew that she had no other choice. Her family, her real family, was here and they were most-likely already looking for her. Reaching out with her senses, Pan found them in four different parts of Sunnydale, but she realized with a start that Vegeta was at the same place as the Scoobies, the Magic Box.

Rather reluctantly, Pan gently slipped out of his embrace. Trunks gazed down at her with love in his eyes, as he carefully tugged a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Are you alright?"

Pan nodded smiling. She had never been better. "I am. It's just… we should head over to the Magic Box."

Trunks frowned in confusion. "Why?"

"There are a couple of reasons, actually," she admitted with a light blush on her face. She had completely forgotten about the note. "Faith left a note this morning, telling us to come over. Apparently Angel, Cordy and Wes have come to Sunnydale. It seems that Cordy had a vision and they need our help or something like that. And then…" She took a deep breath. "I feel Vegeta's ki at the Magic Box."

"Father's here?" Trunks asked confused, but then, as he looked for his father's ki, he realized that Pan was right. His father was really here and at the Magic Box. Extending his own ki further, he also found one ki signature that was pretty similar to his own, one that could only be Gohan and a third one, which was slightly similar to Goku's. None of them bothered to hide their ki, but it was obvious from Vegeta's ki that he was obviously rather pissed off at that moment. For a short moment he wondered, how he hadn't noticed that any of them before, but maybe he had just been too distracted by what had happened last night and this morning. "You're right. And father seems to be slightly unhappy."

Pan snorted, as she crossed her arms. "That's the understatement of the century. But that's just another reason why we should hurry." A mischievous grin now spread over her face, as she took Trunks's hand, entwining his fingers with her own. "And I know just the way to get there in an instant."

Trunks couldn't believe his eyes, when Pan placed two fingers against her forehead, apparently wanting to use the very same technique that had saved Son Goku so many times. Shunkan Idou.

Within a split second, they were gone.

~*~

In all of the confusion, it was, surprisingly enough, Xander who managed to get through the noise the others were making. "Woah, wait a minute!" he said, eventually silencing the others effectively. "What do you mean by bringing her and her mate home again? Just where exactly is her home and who's her mate?" Xander looked at him for a moment, trying to stare him down, and waited just until the moment that this stranger wanted to open his mouth, to speak again. "You know what? Forget it! Whatever you said, I don't believe you. You're from the Council and you just want to use the poor girl, just like you've used every other Slayer before her. You think you can get through with telling us and her that you're her teacher, because she's lost her memory. But we don't believe you. Tell Quentin that her home is Sunnydale and that she will stay here, with us."

Vegeta took a step forward, but much to his surprise that weak little human stood his ground, returning his glare at full force. Growling, he threatened, "You have no idea, whom you're talking to, boy. I could rip you apart without even using one percent of my strength."

"Oh, really…" Xander rolled his eyes, trying to keep his balled fists from shaking. Faith was standing right next to him, which reassured him a bit, and he shouldn't forget that there was also a vampire and two wicked strong witches in this room. "I've met scarier demons, and humans for that matter, than you. I'm not scared." He took another threatening step forward, so that he was almost standing nose to nose with this stranger, ready to attack and throw him out of the shop.

However, before he could do anything, Pan and Trunks appeared in the shop – none of the others noticed them, too busy with the confrontation between Xander and the stranger. First as Pan saw what was going on, she quickly decided to intervene before something really ugly happened. "Xander, I really wouldn't do that. He could rip you apart without even using one percent of his strength. And Vegeta, please, don't attack my friends, will ya?"

Startled, Xander and the others whirled around to face her and Trunks. "Hey! That's the same… But you… and how… here? You really know him?"

"Long story," Pan shrugged with a small grin. "One I promise to tell you. But yes, I know him." She turned to Vegeta, now with a fond smile on her face. "It's Vegeta. He's been my teacher since my early childhood."

Giles took off his glasses to clean them. "So… everything he just said seems to be true. But if you recognize him, then…"

"Yes," Pan answered him, softly. "Giles, guys, I remember everything. It happened last night. I woke up this morning and everything was back."

"Is it true, Pan?" Dawn asked, still sounding a bit disbelieving. When Pan just nodded, Dawn quickly crossed the distance between them and engulfed the other girl in a warm embrace. "I'm so happy for you!"

While Dawn had been hugging her, Faith, Willow and Tara had also appeared in front of them. At first, it was just Willow and Tara joining the hug, and in the end, Faith just rolled her eyes, muttering something like "Whatever" and completed the group hug. Pan had to grin at the other Slayer's rather uncharacteristic behavior, and, looking over her friends' shoulders, saw the thumbs up from Anya and finally also a happy smile replace the confused look on Xander's face. She was sure that she would be the object of a rather smothering Xander-hug later.

"Guys," she finally laughed, hearing Trunks behind her snicker already, and also seeing the slightly amused look on the Fang Gang's faces. "I need to breathe…

With apologies that didn't sound apologetic at all, the others let go of Pan, finally freeing her path to the one person she still needed to greet. With Trunks remaining in the background, Pan walked forward until she had reached Vegeta. "Hey Vegeta."

"Brat," he nodded in acknowledgment. It had been interesting to watch the group interact with each other. They were clearly close-knitted and protective of each other. It was good to see that the brat had ended up in a group like this, with friends like this.

"Long time no see."

"A half year," Vegeta agreed. "They were all deeply worried about you." Even though he was using the word 'they', he included himself with the word 'all' and Pan knew that, because in the next moment she was hugging him tightly and much to everyone's surprise, he put his arms around her as well, if a bit stiffly.

Not wanting to cause him any more discomfort, Pan stepped away from him after a short moment. Grinning at him, she said, "I'm somehow glad that you're the first one who finds me, because I might need your help to protect your son, I mean, your future, uh, past, argh, whatever… You know what I mean. My dad sure won't be happy to find out that I've a boyfriend, or rather, a mate."

Vegeta chuckled. "You have to thank Kakarotto for that. He told me that I would find you at this place."

"Grandpa told you?"

"Yes," Vegeta replied and then a smirk appeared on his face. "But that wasn't the only thing he did. He also gave me something. But you'll first see, what it is, when the others are here. Not even they know anything about it."

Pan raised her eyebrows, really having no idea what he could be talking about. "Come on Vegeta, tell me. Please," she pleaded, with wide eyes, hoping that the puppy dog look would work, and she seemed to be lucky, as Vegeta winked at her.

"One small hint shouldn't hurt. There are seven of them."

This time, Pan's eyes widened for real, only this time in complete disbelief and surprise. "Oh sweet Dende… You're not kidding?" she breathed. When Vegeta shook his head, she finally believed him, no matter how hard it still was. After all, when her grandfather had disappeared, the Dragonballs had fused with him. "Wow, this is… I don't know what to say… How? I mean, I thought… That's just…." Trailing off, Pan looked to where Pan was sending and gave the girl a mysterious smile.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you," Giles suddenly said, stepping up to them. "Don't you want to introduce us?

"Oh, sorry Giles," Pan grinned sheepishly. "Giles, that's Vegeta. As I've already said, he's been my teacher for a very long time. Vegeta, that's Rupert Giles. He looked after me in the last six month."

"Well then, Mr. Vegeta," Giles said, as he extended his hand to the other man. "It's nice to meet you."

Vegeta looked at offered hand for a short moment, before eventually shaking it. He would never get used to all those weird human customs. Instead of saying something, the Saiyajin simply nodded at the man who had looked after the brat the whole time. Then, after letting go of the hand, he retreated into the back of the room, where his future brat was watching the whole scene. The brat's father was going to walk through the door any minute and Vegeta really wanted to be a spectator to what was going to happen.

"Uhm…" Giles mumbled, looking after Vegeta and flexing the fingers of his right hand slightly.

Pan chuckled, clapping Giles on his arm. "Don't let him bother you, Giles. That's just Vegeta."

However, before anyone could say more or do something, the bell above the door chimed again, and fully expecting a costumer this time, Anya put a cheerful smile on her face and was ready to welcome whoever came through the door, more than willing to earn more money. Unfortunately, Anya shouldn't earn any more money that day, as the dark-haired man who stormed into the shop was looking around frantically.

"Panny?" he called, and when his eyes eventually landed on the girl he was looking for, he breathed a quiet prayer of thanks to whatever god this place had. He had finally found her. Said girl stared back wide-eyed, completely baffled by this sudden appearance and especially by her father's behavior. The frantic look had been replaced by a relieved one, when Gohan had spotted her. "Panny!" Taking slow and deliberate steps towards her, he said calmly, "Pan, I know you don't recognize me, but I'm here to help you. I know that you have lost your memories… a girl from your school told me."

Pan's first reaction would have been to jump into her father's arms and hug him so tightly that he would have trouble breathing. Until that moment she hadn't even realized, just how much she had missed him. He might be overbearing and overprotective, but he was still her father and she loved him very much. Still, she was surprised to see him this crazed and wondered, what kind of horror stories this girl had told him. He didn't even notice that Trunks and Vegeta were there.

Suddenly a mischievous smirk crossed her lips. She knew it was simply evil, but right now, she just couldn't resist. _'Trunks, whatever you see now, don't worry and please play along, will ya?'_

The surprise in Trunks's voice was evident, but she could also hear the interest in his voice. _'What are you planning?'_

_'You'll see.'_ Crossing her arms in front of her chest, Pan tilted her head to one side. "Why would you want to help me?"

"I want to bring you home, Panny," Gohan told her, his voice sounding extremely worried, as he glanced at the people that surrounded Pan. But his gaze didn't wander to the back of the room, so he was still oblivious to Vegeta's and Trunks's presence. "I want to bring you somewhere safe. This girl told me about your friends… and about your boyfriend. And I want to bring you away from those criminals."

"Yo, P! What's he talking about?" Faith asked. She guessed that she had caught up to her game, even though she still had no idea, who this guy was. He and Pan looked slightly familiar, maybe he was her father?

_P?_ Gohan couldn't believe his ears. What kind of ridiculous nickname was this? In the past, when he had been Saiyaman, he had only heard those kinds of nicknames in gangs.

Pan simply shrugged, having a hard time to keep back her laughter. The look on her father's face was simply priceless. "Maybe she told him about our _kills_ of the last six months."

"Y-your kills?" Gohan asked, deeply shocked. The need to get Pan out of this place was growing more urgent with each passing moment.

"Possible," Faith agreed. This really was fun. Then, as if to explain a bit about their doings, she continued, "You see, Giles here is doing the research and we're doing the kills. Oh, and Willow and Tara are powerful witches. They help a lot. And you should see P's boyfriend. He's wicked strong, much stronger than I could ever hope to be. Looking at you, I guess you'd have a hard time to beat him, and he would never let Pan leave."

Looking at her father, with a clearly faked innocent look on her face, Pan asked, "He's in the back. Would you like to meet him?"

"Yes," Gohan simply hissed, already clenching his fists, ready to fight.

In the back, Vegeta could clearly sense the rise in Gohan's ki. Looking over at Trunks, he saw that the boy was still completely relaxed. He was obviously in on the brat's plan. He had also already guessed what she was playing at and agreed fully with her. Her father had had this coming for a long time already. Vegeta didn't claim to know much about raising a child, but even he could see that the girl was more than ready to live on her own. Her father needed to learn to let her go.

"Hey luv," the girl called to the back, employing an accent in her language that clearly wasn't her own. "Here's someone who's just dying to meet you. I'm sure you'd like to meet him, too."

~*~

Goten and Trunks, who had just met each other a few minutes ago after having been unsuccessful the whole time, were just finished with their short reports about their search and wanted to split up again to look again for her separately, when they suddenly felt the unmistakable rise in Gohan's ki. They looked at each other, the meaning of this obvious to both of them.

"Trunks," Goten simply said, looking into the direction where he could feel the ki. It wasn't that far away from them.

Trunks swallowed hard, the collar of his T-shirt suddenly feeling much tighter than before. "I know. He's found her."

A huge grin spread over Goten's face, as he clapped Trunks on the back. "Well then, what are we still waiting for? Let's go!"

~*~

Gohan's whole body was tense, waiting for this mysterious boyfriend to show himself, but what happened left him really confused. One second his daughter was standing in front of him alone, and just a second later there was a young man standing behind her, with his arms wrapped tightly around her stomach and his faces nuzzled in her dark hair. Gohan hadn't been prepared for someone from this dimension being this fast. But what let his anger rise even more was the possessive way, in which this young man held his daughter. He balled his fists even tighter, almost burying his fingernails into his palms, and a growl threatened to escape his mouth. He felt his muscles tense even more and his ki rise higher, especially when the young man spoke. He was even so out of it that he just vaguely noticed that the voice seemed familiar somehow, and quickly pushed this thought aside.

"What's up, Panny?"

Pan smirked up at her father, sensing the rise in his ki and also seeing how his jaw was set. But she wasn't worried, yet. It really was too much fun to rile her father up. "My dad wants to meet my boyfriend. And as far as I know is this my dad, and you're my boyfriend, right?"

"Alright," Trunks replied, sounding nonchalant, but in truth he wasn't as relaxed as his girlfriend seemed to be. In fact, he was somewhat scared – he had experienced Gohan's true power first hand and he didn't want to be on the receiving side of it. However, for his mate he would do anything and that's why he gathered all his courage, let go of Pan and walked around to stop directly in front of Gohan. Extending his hand, he said, "Hello…", but was interrupted rather brutally.

Gohan's fist lashed out and connected with his jaw. The hit was even strong enough to send him sprawling on the ground. He moaned, feeling that his jaw was definitely broken. Within a split second, Pan was kneeling by his side, glaring up at her father, who was stalking up to them. Startled, Pan realized that her father might be a tad more enraged than she had believed and that, in his rage, he hadn't realized two things – one that she had already called him 'dad' and two that he still hadn't recognized Trunks. "Dad! What do you think you're doing?" she cried, before her father could harm Trunks more. She was at this moment also a bit scared for the other Scoobies, who for now just stared at them in shock, but who would also surely intervene in a second.

Gohan glowered at the boy next to his daughter, his rage, just as Pan suspected, blinding him. He didn't listen to his daughter, didn't answer her question and didn't hear her call him 'dad'. His mind was focused only on one thing – the elimination of the threat to his daughter, which was this boy. And then they could all go home and everything would be back to how it had been before.

Much to Pan's shock, her father did something she hadn't expected at all. He raised his hand, palm pointed at them, and a light blue glow appeared in front of the palm. "No…" Her father was insane! Getting up from her kneeling position next to Trunks, Pan stepped between him and her father, spreading her arms. "I can't let you do that, daddy," she said firmly and forcefully, at the same moment as she let the energy around her flare up, turning her hair golden and her eyes a mixture between green and blue. Pan could clearly feel the disbelieving looks there Scoobies were giving her now.

Fortunately, the transformation into a Super Saiyajin made Gohan pause long enough to actually hear what his daughter was saying. He swallowed, not ready to believe it. "Daddy? Pan, you've just called me daddy. Does that mean… do you remember?"

Rolling her eyes, but not powering down yet, Pan answered, "Yes, I remember. Since this morning actually and I had recognized you the moment you stepped into the shop. I just wanted to tease you a bit, but I'd have never thought that you'd try to kill my boyfriend. Geez…"

But whatever Pan wanted to say, was cut off, as Gohan stepped forward and hugged her tightly, pressing her against his chest. "Oh, Panny… I've missed you so much. For some time, I thought that I would never see you again." Quickly letting her go, he held her at arm-length. "How are you? Is everything alright? Are you unhurt?"

Finally letting go of her ki and powering down, Pan sighed. "I've missed you, too. And I'm okay, daddy. Really. I swear."

"And… what about… what you said about… killing people?"

A chuckle escaped her throat, which Pan tried to smother. "We killed, that's true," she admitted, and, upon seeing his eyes widen again, she quickly reassured him. "Or rather slayed. And our victims were just vampires and other demons. No humans. But… can we please wait with the twenty questions for a sec?" Without even waiting for a reply, Pan once again turned around and knelt down next to Trunks. "How are you?"

_'In pain,'_ Trunks answered through her bond. His broken jaw was making it impossible for him to speak normally. _'Ow… you really weren't kidding, when you said that he was overprotective.'_

Pan winced in sympathy, as she wiped a strand of hair out of his face. "I'm sorry…"

Sighing inwardly, Trunks replied, _'You don't need to be. It's my own fault. I really shouldn't have underestimated Son Gohan. But… could you maybe ask him, if he's brought some senzus. I could really need one. Or maybe, if he doesn't have one, father might.'_

"Of course," Pan replied. None of the others had moved from their spots in the room, too stunned by the happenings surrounding Pan. She gave them an apologetic grin, with which she promised them that she would explain everything, and looked back up to her father, who was staring at her and Trunks with surprise written all over his face. Apparently, he had finally recognized Trunks. About time, too. "Dad… do you maybe have a senzu for Trunks… A broken jaw's really not that much fun, ya know?"

"Trunks?" Gohan asked, still staring down at the young man with a confused look on his face. "It's really you? Mirai Trunks?"

Pan rolled her eyes again. "Yes, it's him. And now, senzu please? You two can talk, once he's actually able to talk again."

Gohan had the decency to blush a bit, while he took a senzu out of a small pouch, which had been in the pocket of his pants. "I'm sorry," he told Trunks, as he gave Pan the senzu.

Pan immediately raised Trunks's head a bit and, after having grinded the bean to powder, let it trickle into his mouth so that he didn't need to chew. Trunks swallowed. The effect was immediately visible, as the bruise disappeared and Trunks was once again able to work his jaw without problems. He sighed in relief. Broken bones weren't usually that bad, but this one was particularly nasty. "Thanks…" Getting up again, he once again walked up to Gohan and offered his hand again. "One more try," he grinned. "Hello Gohan. Long time no see."

Instead of hitting him again, Gohan shook the hand this time. "It's been ages. And really, I'm sorry…"

Trunks waved him off. "Nah, it wasn't that bad. I've had worse."

"But… how… I mean, how did you get here? I know that Pan flew through some kind of portal that had opened out of nowhere."

Trunks shrugged, as he explained, "Basically the same. I was on my way to visit you, when the time machine was dragged into a vortex. Just as Pan did, I ended up here, because the cause of the disturbance between space and time was this dimension, but this is a pretty long story."

"I guess, it's also a _pretty_ long story to tell, if we want to know just how the fucking hell you all know each other," Faith, who had been quiet the whole time, too stunned, just like the rest of the Scoobies, finally decided to say. Sure, it had been almost better than watching _Passions_, but it really was only a matter of time until she couldn't take it anymore and needed to shed some light on this situation. "Or is there a short version somewhere?"

"Sorry guys," Pan grinned at them apologetically. "I can try to make it a short story, but it's really a long one. You know how Trunks is a Saiyajin? Well, I'm one, too, and so is my dad and Vegeta of course. Basically, we're all from the same dimension, only Trunks comes from another timeline. He had visited our time many years ago to help my grandfather, my dad, who's still been a kid back then, and their friends to fight against a common threat. That's how they know each other. And you already know everything about how Trunks got here."

"So, this is your father?" Giles asked, looking a bit suspiciously at the man in front of them.

Pan grinned, guessing that Giles was a bit intimidated by her father's apparently unprovoked use of violence. Well, once they got to know each other better, they would find out that they were in fact kindred souls. "Yes, Giles, that's my dad, Son Gohan. Dad, this is Rupert Giles. He's been my mentor in this dimension. He looked after me."

With a friendly smile that almost completely replaced the scowl that had been on Gohan's face nearly the whole time since he had stepped into the shop, Gohan walked up to Giles. "Mr. Giles, a pleasure to meet you. Thank you for looking after my daughter."

"You're quite welcome," Giles replied. "Pan's a very nice and spirited girl. Am I… Am I correct in my assumption that you and she… are from a different dimension as well?"

"That's true," Pan told him in her father's stead. A sad look had appeared on her face, while she had been looking at her friends from this dimension. Sunnydale had truly become a second home for her, even though she now remembered her first home again. "And he, Vegeta and two friends have come here to bring me back."

"You're leaving?" Dawn asked, her quiet voice betraying the hurt she felt.

"I'm sorry, Dawnie. But yes, as soon as… I've taken care of one last thing here in this dimension, I think I have to go."

"Great," Dawn huffed, though the tears were visible in her eyes. "Just leave us. Go back to your dimension. It's not like we love you or something like that…" After having given Pan one last glare, the teenager turned around on her heels and fled to the backroom of the shop.

"Dawnie!" Pan was about to go after her, but Faith stopped her by grabbing her arm and shaking her head.

"Just… give her some time, P. It's rather surprising news, after all."

Pan shuddered upon hearing the cold indifference in her sister Slayers'… no, they weren't sister Slayers anymore. Faith was the only Slayer. So many things she had believed true for so many months were now destroyed. She hadn't even thought about how this might affect the others. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, wrapping her arms tightly around herself.

Much to her surprise, it wasn't Trunks who comforted her, but Xander, who hugged her tightly. "Stop it, Faith. Give the girl some peace. I can imagine that she's had a pretty rough day, and the day's far from over. And… we all knew that this might happen someday, that Pan might regain her memories and return to her family. Just because we didn't want to realize it, doesn't make it less true."

"Thanks, Xander…"

"Hey, 'm only telling the truth here," Xander mumbled, loud enough that everyone could hear him, and shot Faith a dark look, before he let go off Pan.

"Well, I for one still think it's a fucking big coincidence that Pan gets her memories back and just a few hours later, her family stands in front of this door."

"I believe, I can shed some light on this." Vegeta, who had watched everything with some amusement, finally decided to intervene, before things could get out of hand.

"Vegeta? You're here?" Gohan asked surprised, as he still hadn't noticed the other Saiyajin before he had made his presence known.

"You're slacking," Vegeta simply told him with a smirk, before turning back to his audience. "As I said, I might provide some answers to this _fucking big coincidence_, which, as a matter of fact, isn't a coincidence at all. I don't know if you know about the bond between the two brats, but last night this bond was completed, when they mated. By completing this bond, the brat's memories returned, because the Saiyajin in her awoke fully. Kaka- I mean, Goku, the brat's grandfather, has left the realm of the living about four years ago, and has kept an eye on the brat for as long as she's been here. When he saw that she had regained her memories, he informed my mate in her dreams, where the brat was. He also visited me in my dream and told me that I would find her here, when we came to this dimension. I've got to admit that my mate is a genius – while the brat has been here, she has built a portal to cross dimensions. And that's how we are here." Turning to Pan, his smirk grew even wider. "In case you haven't noticed, we'll have company in three, two, one…"

Just at that moment, the bell above the door chimed again, and two young men stumbled inside. A huge grin appeared on Pan's face, as she recognized them. "Goten!" she cried in delight, as she ran up to him and threw her arms around his neck, the gloom from just a minute ago almost completely forgotten.

"Panny!" Goten yelled laughing, as he hugged her tightly. "Thank Dende, you're alright. We've been so worried!"

The other Trunks watched them warily, even though he was blissfully happy to see that Pan seemed to be alright. However, he had no idea what to expect, when it was finally his turn. It had been a half year, so her feelings for him could have changed, but what if she was still pining for him? This would be extremely uncomfortable.

Seeing that his best friend and Pan wouldn't let go of each other for a while, Trunks began gazing around the room. There were several people he didn't know (and who were all looking at him strangely), but then his eyes landed on Gohan and Vegeta and… his eyes widened in disbelief, as he stared into a face almost identical to his own. At least now he knew why they were all looking at him like that. He blinked, once, twice, but the other one was still there, smirking at him.

Just what the hell was going on here?

Trunks couldn't say that he was really surprised to see his counterpart from Pan's dimension enter the room. He had already somewhat expected that he would be one of the two friends that had been mentioned sometime this morning, but now, facing him was a lot stranger than he had thought. The moment his eyes had landed on his other self, conflicted emotions had begun to rage inside of him – for one, this Trunks had broken Pan's heart, but for the other, without this, he might have never met her. So, he should actually be grateful for this.

Finally, the other Trunks's eyes had found him and he couldn't help but smirk at his counterpart. This was going to be fun.

As much as Goten enjoyed hugging his niece, he knew that he couldn't and shouldn't hog her. After all, there was still one more person, and this person still had a lot more to do than just say hello. No, this person owed Pan a huge apology. So, letting go of her, he said, "Pan, I think there's still someone else who wants to meet you."

Hearing his friend's voice, the other Trunks looked back at him and saw Pan now looking at him. He felt immediately bad again and hoped that she might forgive him someday for what she had done.

Pan noticed the apologetic and worried look in the other Trunks's eyes (Sweet Dende, they needed to find a way to keep them apart, and this fast!), so she just did what her instincts told her. First, she slapped him, hard, so that his head whirled around, but then she hugged him tightly. Trunks froze at first, still a bit stunned from the blow, but when he realized what she was doing, he sighed in relief and returned the hug. "Pan, I'm so sorry… for everything… I can't believe that I've been so blind the whole time."

"I know, you jerk," she muttered. "But all is forgiven. Believe me, I've found out a long time ago, how thick guys can be, and you're not an exception."

Trunks slowly let her slip out of the embrace, but he kept his hands on her arms, as he said, "I know… Bra already told me that, and she also said that I should let you do whatever you want with me. I definitely deserve it."

"She's right, of course," Pan told him with a mischievous smirk on her face. "And I'll have to think of a suitable punishment. Maybe some time in the GR, once we're home again. I've been keeping in shape here, but what about you? You look as if you've lost even more muscles, while I was gone."

Trunks shook his head in exasperation, knowing already that he was doomed. However, there was one last thing he needed to know. Now. "Pan, I know now isn't perhaps the most perfect time for this, but… do you… do you still love me?"

Pan looked at him in confusion for a moment, before she eventually smiled. "Of course I am, Trunks. I love you, but I'm not in love with you anymore. I've fallen in love with someone else in this dimension." She gazed over her shoulder at her Trunks and motioned for him to come over to them.

The other Trunks stared at the lookalike in disbelief, as he walked up to them. Even close up the similarities were stunning – if it weren't for the fact that this man was younger than him and had longer hair, they might pass for twins.

"Trunks," Pan pulled him out of his thoughts. "This is Trunks." She winced, turning to her Trunks. "Can I call you Mirai, please? It's just getting too confusing."

Mirai chuckled deeply. "Of course, love."

Exhaling deeply in relief, Pan now grinned at Trunks. "Okay, once again. Trunks, this is Mirai. Mirai's the one who came to our time to fight against Cell and the Jinzouningen. He's ended up in this dimension in a freak accident, just like I did. Mirai, this is Trunks, the baby you met, when you were in our time. And this is my uncle Goten, dad's younger brother. Oh, and before I forget, Mirai's my mate."

Trunks stared at them, gaping. "You… and me… I mean him?" Pan just nodded, the grin on her face growing even wider. "Wow."

"Not to break up this little reunion," Vegeta eventually interrupted them. "But brat, you still owe your friends and us a longer explanation than the one you've already given."

"Geez, Vegeta, grumpy much?" Pan grinned, but eventually sighed. "You're right. Can someone please go and get Dawn? No matter how angry she's with me, I'm sure she still wants to hear it. And does _anyone_ know where Spike is?"

"Haven't seen him since last night," Faith answered, as she took a seat on the stairs to the upper floor. In the meantime, Tara had gone to the backroom, hoping that she might find the right words to convince Dawn to come back. "But you know him… who knows how long he's been patrolling last night after the near apocalypse. Maybe he just had to hide in a crypt and wait there until the sun's down."

"You're right," Pan admitted. After all, it wouldn't be the first time that Spike had patrolled too long to return home again afterwards without being burned to ashes. This might just be another case for the dragon to get rid of that little problem. "So, please take a seat everyone. Just as the term 'long story' says, this might take a bit longer."

Muttering in agreement, the Scoobies and also Angel, Wes and Cordy, who had been slightly left out during the whole thing with Pan and her family, made themselves comfortable wherever they could find a place to sit or to stand. Tara also returned to the shop, with Dawn trailing behind her. The girl looked as if she had cried, but she didn't want to show it. She tried to avoid looking at Pan, but still couldn't help to glance at her, when she noticed the two Trunks'es. Pan grinned at her at that moment, but Dawn just muttered something like "'m still not talking to you." in a sullen voice. However, her voice didn't sound as hurt as before so Pan was confident that by the end of the story, Dawn would talk to her again.

Clearing his throat, Giles said, when Dawn had sat down between Willow and Xander, "Seeing as we can't wait for Spike, wherever he might have found a hiding place from the sun, I think we shouldn't wait any longer. Pan, if you would begin?"

Pan nodded and began her long story.

~*~

Groaning, Spike tried to open his eyes. He didn't know how long he had been out again, but not long, that he could tell for sure, because the pain was still as strong as it had been before he had passed out. He raised his head slightly, and winced, both at the agonizing pain and the burns and other injuries all over his body. When he laid his head back down, Spike unfortunately couldn't avoid looking at the skylight. The sky behind the glass was blue and Spike knew that it would only be a matter of time until the sun would burn him to crisp.

"Oh, you're back in the land of the living… no, sorry, undead," Buffy's voice caught his attention, as she appeared again in his view. She walked around him and eventually knelt down directly next to his head. Lowering her mouth to his ear, she whispered in a threatening voice, "Well, I've shown you that you're at my mercy, but you don't need to be. Just tell me how to kill the Key and I'll let you go." Grabbing his hair, Buffy violently pulled his head back, and leaned over him. Spike had to suppress a scream, as the silver cross from her necklace dangled onto his throat. "If you don't cooperate, you'll suffer a lot more and then you'll burn. This is a promise."

Spike remained silent, vowing that he would never tell her anything about Dawn or any of the other Scoobies. Instead, he needed to concentrate on figuring out what had happened to the Slayer. So, when she once again had gotten up and walked over to where her instruments of torture were lying, he asked, "Buffy… who did this to you?"

The Slayer turned around, playing with a sharp scalpel in her hands, and tilted her head in curiosity. "Who did what?"

"Bringing you back and changing you…" he gasped. "I saw you jump off Glory's tower. We buried you. You gave your life… for Dawn, so that she could live…"

Buffy stared at him for a long moment, and Spike almost believed that he could see something in her eyes, some storm that was raging, but it was gone just after a split second. "I really have no idea, what you're talking about. I would never give my life for something as dangerous as the Key. It needs to be eliminated, and that's what I'm here to do. And while I'm at it, I will also get rid of all the other people who oppose the Watcher's Council. Starting with you."

~*~

Shortly after she had started, Pan realized that the long story really would be too long and also much too confusing, especially for the Scoobies. With her father's and Mirai's help, she then tried to give them as much information as possible, without making it too boring and tiring, and most importantly, without having to sit there for hours on end until she was finished. After all, if she really wanted to give them a blow-by-blow account of her life and all the battles that her grandfather had already fought, including what she knew about the Saiyajins, it might take days. In the end, she had just been talking for a bit more than an hour – her watch told her that it was already getting close to noon, and her stomach fully agreed with her watch – but her throat felt dry and her voice hoarse. "I think that's all you need to know, for now," she finished her tale, and leaned back in her chair.

She wasn't the only one, as the Scoobies, who had all been listening with rapt attention, also relaxed in their seats. Faith even rubbed her temples, muttering, "Okay, way too much fucking information. My poor brain."

Pan snorted. "Your poor brain? I was the one who had been attacked with this within a few short seconds last night. And that was even more than I've just told you."

"Okay, okay… P, I'll feel sorry for you, as soon as my head stops spinning." Faith smirked at her and Pan sighed in relief. Faith was already treating her again as if there had never been anything between them, and she was glad that the Slayer had already gotten over the hurt and realized that what Xander had said was true. "But Veggie over here mentioned something about a prezzie he's brought with him to this dimension."

Ignoring the deep scowl on Vegeta's face, Pan chuckled. "Vegeta, please show them."

Nodding, Vegeta opened his back and took a smaller one out of it. He dawdled with opening the second one, earning a light punch to his shoulder from Pan, and eventually let seven orange glowing spheres roll on the table.

Giles took one of the spheres, as did Willow, who mumbled "Oh, shiny", while the Saiyajins could only stare at them in complete and utter surprise.

"Sweet Dende… the Dragonballs," Goten muttered, grabbing the ball with the four stars.

Trunks's eyes left the spheres and wandered over to his father. "Where did you get them, dad? I always thought they'd disappeared along with Goku."

"Courtesy of Kakarotto. I found them next to my bed this morning, after he had visited me in my dreams."

"This is a Dragonball?" Xander asked, staring at the one in Willow's hand in curiosity. Pan had just told them about the Dragonballs and the wishes, which Xander had found very hard to believe, even with all the experience he had gathered by living on the Hellmouth all his life.

"Yes, these are Dragonballs," Gohan told him. "And just like Pan has already told you, once you have all seven of them, you can call the eternal dragon Shenlong and he will then fulfill you two wishes."

"And what does that mean?" Dawn asked, speaking for the first time since she had left the backroom. She finally looked at Pan for an explanation, while playing with the two stars ball with her hand.

A huge smile spread over Pan's face, as she said, "This means that we can bring your sister back to life."


	14. The Wishes

**Chapter 13: The Wishes**

"What?" Dawn asked, her voice squeaking in disbelief. "Sorry, but can you please repeat what you've just said. Because I've understood that we can resurrect Buffy with those spheres."

"It's true, Dawn;" Pan said, still beaming at the younger girl.

"But that's not possible;" Willow said. "I mean, we've looked through every book at least twice and there wasn't a way to bring her back. Why should those magical spheres be able to do that?"

"Believe me Will. Almost all members of my family and friends have died at least once and were brought back with the Dragonballs. It is possible."

Dawn saw the sincerity in Pan's eyes and after all her memories told her what she had experienced since Buffy became the Slayer, there was nothing she couldn't believe anymore. They were living on top of the Hellmouth after all. "We can bring Buffy back…" she mumbled, but then, a huge grin spread over her face and happy tears sprung into her eyes, as she exclaimed, much louder than before, "We can bring Buffy back!" Hugging Pan, the same girl she had just resented a short moment ago for planning to leave her, she mumbled again, "Thank you Pan… And when can we call this dragon?"

"At once, if you want," Mirai Trunks now said. "But we have to go somewhere else to do this. Shenlong would never fit into this shop."

"But won't the people get suspicious when they suddenly see how the sky goes black and a huge Dragon appears out of nowhere?" Goten wanted to know.

"Don't worry," Faith said, with a shrug. "The people here in Sunnydale are used to those things. I guess weirder things have happened here."

Xander grinned. "Oh, you mean like things that go bump in the night, sudden eclipses, exploding high schools, tears in the fabric of reality and things like that… Yep, welcome to Sunnydale, the town, where denial isn't just a river in Egypt."

Pan chuckled, feeling really glad to see all the happy looks on the faces of her Sunnydale friends. At least now, leaving them wouldn't feel as if she were abandoning them. No, before she left, she would give them back the one person they had missed the most over the past few months. Still, it hurt a bit to know that, as soon as Buffy was back and she was gone, they would most likely forget all about her. Pushing those thoughts quickly out of her mind, Pan got up from her seat and said, "Well, I think we should go now. We could summon him on one of the cemeteries, the best would be near Buffy's grave."

The other Scoobies quickly agreed to this and gathered their stuff. None of them wasted any time, as they headed towards the door, as soon as they were ready. Only Angel retreated to the door to the backroom, telling them that he would meet them at Buffy's grave.

"What is he doing?" Goten wanted to know, as he watched the dark haired man leave. "Why isn't he coming with us?"

"Because the sun would burn him," Pan told her uncle. "You must know, Angel's a vampire."

"A-a vampire? As in 'Grrrr, I will bite you'?"

"Yeah, but don't worry, he doesn't bite," she said grinning and walked past him. "Are you coming now?"

"Hey, wait! I'm coming already."

~*~

On the way to the cemetery, Dawn didn't calm down and was nearly dancing around the Scoobies and Saiyajins. The Scoobies all exchanged knowing glances, especially as they were just as excited as Dawn was and had a hard time to contain this excitement. Xander was smiling so brightly that one would think that he had just won all episodes of Star Trek on DVD, and Willow was talking to Tara so quickly that she had long ago broken her own ramble-record, while Giles was cleaning his glasses so often that it was a miracle they still had lenses to polish. They only regretted that Spike wouldn't be present, but Pan realized with a grin that the surprise would just be much bigger for him that way.

When they finally arrived at Buffy's grave, they saw that Angel was already standing there, under a tree in the shadows. Once they had gathered around the grave, Dawn standing between Xander and Willow and clutching their hands, Vegeta put his bag on the floor and took out the Dragonballs, placing them all next to each other and after he did that, they began to glow.

"Wow," Willow simply said. She was too impressed to say more.

"And what do we do now?" Xander asked nervously. He still couldn't believe that those spheres could bring someone back to life, no matter what Pan had told them.

"Just watch," Mirai said with a wink, and then turned to Pan. "Do you want to do the honors?"

Nodding, Pan tried to calm down and stepped forward. She had never before called the mighty dragon and was a bit nervous, especially seeing the results using the Dragonball had had the last time. But she was sure that her grandfather wouldn't have given them the spheres, if there was a chance that evil dragons would want to destroy the world again.

"Shenlong! Come forth!" she yelled, and the Dragonballs began to glow even more, the sky went black and a glaring light emerged from them, so that everyone had to shield their eyes.

~*~

Little did they know that the one they wanted to resurrect was momentarily in Sunnydale, torturing one of their Scooby Gang. Buffy was slowly circling Spike, playing with the stake in her hand. "Well Spike, you don't have much time left." She smirked and kneeled down next to the vampire. Grabbing his jaw, she forced him to look up at the skylight, where it was getting steadily brighter. Soon the sun would be visible through the window. "Just a few more minutes and then you'll go poof." However, just at that moment the spot on the floor disappeared. Irritated, Buffy looked through the window in the roof and saw that not just the sun was gone, but also the sky was pure black. "What the hell…" she cursed as she got up, letting Spikes head roll back.

Spike groaned in pain and when he opened his eyes again, he saw the reason for Buffy's cursing. "Looks like… the sun doesn't… want… to burn me…luv…" he muttered weakly with a small satisfied smirk on his face, but the Slayer didn't react. She just kept staring at the sky.

~*~

The Scoobies were staring in awe at Shenlong. Even though they were living at the Hellmouth, they had never seen something like that.

"Wow! He is just… fucking huge!" Faith exclaimed excitedly.

Willow's eyes were so wide that it was almost comical, as she nodded numbly. "I second that."

"Even bigger than snake-mayor was," Xander mumbled shocked. He, just like the others, couldn't take his eyes from the dragon in front of him.

Cordelia grinned smugly. "I knew that the dragon from my vision wasn't evil." This earned her a surprised look from Angel and Wesley, but she just shrugged. She wouldn't tell them more or spoil her surprise for then.

"You've summoned me. I will fulfill you two wishes within my power," a deep voice thundered and they looked back at Shenlong, whose head had descended in the meantime, so that it just was a few yards above the people.

"Come on Dawn," Pan said and pushed the girl a few steps forward. "You can make your wish now."

"O-okay…" Dawn didn't dare to go even nearer. Shenlong was really filling her with respect, but then she took a deep breath, gathering all her courage and told him her wish. "Shenlong, my wish is to bring my sister, Buffy Summer, the Vampire Slayer, back to life."

She was nervously chewing on her lip and was rolling back and forth on her feet, waiting for Shenlong to fulfill the wish. It seemed like an eternity until the dragon finally spoke up. "I can't fulfill your wish."

Stunned silence met this declaration, even Pan didn't know what to say. This was just horrible! This just couldn't be, it had never happened before. And she had promised them. Her eyes found Dawn's and what she saw tore her heart apart. All the hope she had seen before in her friend's eyes was gone and tears were streaming down the girl's face.

"I don't understand," Mirai finally decided to break the silence. "Why can't you bring her back?"

"I can't resurrect someone who is already alive," Shenlong elaborated.

Confused, Dawn looked up again, wiping the tears away. "What?" she whispered, her heart slowly filling with hope again.

"Buffy's alive?" Giles wanted to know. "How? We saw her jump off the tower. She-she died and we buried her."

"The Slayer called Buffy Summers is alive and in this town. And now please tell me your other wishes," Shenlong told them.

Giles was cleaning his glasses again, as Dawn mumbled in disbelief, "Alive? And here in Sunnydale?"

"It must be true," she heard Trunks say. "Shenlong doesn't lie."

"Pan, is it true? Buffy is alive?"

"Yes, Dawn. I think so," the semi-Saiyajin said, now smiling. Trunks was right. Shenlong just didn't lie. When he said that Buffy was alive, she really was. It didn't make any sense, especially as she was supposed to be in Sunnydale – if she really was here, why wasn't she going to her friends? Clearing her throat, she turned to the others. "Do you have any other wishes? Shenlong is waiting."

Dawn thought for a moment and then her face lit up. "Yes, I know two other wishes. Shenlong, can you remove the chip out of the head of the vampire Spike, also called William the Bloody?"

"Dawn!" Giles exclaimed, shocked, but the girl just smiled at them.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. So, Shenlong, can you do that?"

"Yes, I can do it."

"Good. Then is this my first wish. Do it, please."

~*~

"Mmh, okay Spike. I give you one last chance," Buffy said seductively, when she turned back from the window. She sat down on his stomach, forcing him to suppress a painful hiss, as she touched his wounds, and leaned over, so that their noses almost touched. "You've already killed two Slayers, but have you ever bedded one? Work with me, then you can have me." After she said that, she leaned over even more and kissed him hard.

Spike was totally stunned by this action. His first reaction was to kiss back – feeling her lips on his one more time was everything he had ever wanted - but he eventually remembered that this woman wanted to kill him and began to struggle. As he forcefully raised his head, he was able to hit Buffy and she stopped kissing him.

"Damn! You shouldn't be able to hurt me. What's with your chip? Why doesn't your head hurt?" the Slayer asked him exasperatedly, rubbing her forehead and getting up. She shook her head, trying to clear it from some cobwebs, which she attributed to the hit she had just received. Somehow, kissing him had seemed familiar, and it had felt right, but this just wasn't possible. Frustrated, she climbed back to her feet. "Argh, whatever… I don't have time for this now. I have a job to do. Some time or other the sun will come back and burn you. I'll leave you at her mercy…" Buffy grabbed her bag with the weapons and walked through the door without looking back.

~*~

"I have fulfilled your first wish," Shenlong said. "What is your second wish?"

Dawn was once again almost giddy with excitement. "Is it within your power to make vampires human?" This question earned many gasps, but Shenlong's answer earned even more.

"Yes, it is."

"Okay, then," Dawn said, loud and clearly, "listen to my second wish…"

~*~

Spike didn't know what had happened. At one moment she was kissing him and he was kissing back, but as he defended himself, something happened that he hadn't expected. He had been able to hurt Buffy, without his head trying to explode. That made him think. Maybe the chip was defect… or Buffy came back wrong or was a dem…. He shook his head. No, he didn't want to think about that. Instead he focused on trying to get free until the sun came back. It would only be a matter of time and he really didn't want to end up as dust. He still needed to warn the Scoobies. They needed to know that Buffy was back and that she wasn't herself.

~*~

"It's done."

Dawn smiled and looked over to Angel, as well as the others. Angel raised his hand to his heart and began to smile as well. Carefully, he took a step forward and into the sunlight. Everyone held their breaths, waiting for something to happen, but nothing happened. Angel didn't burn. "I'm human," he mumbled in disbelief. "I-I can breathe, I'm warm… Unbelievable…"

"I knew it!" Cordelia yelled and nearly jumped at his neck, and before both of them knew it, they were kissing. They first broke apart a few seconds later, when they both realized what they were doing and that all the gazes were on them. Angel and Cordelia quickly let go of each other and were now both deeply blushing, which was a new experience for Angel. "Uhm… yeah… Did I already say that I knew that Angel would become human?" Cordelia tried to talk herself out of it, but no one was able to say something, because Shenlong interrupted them.

"I've fulfilled all your wishes. Goodbye." A bright light once again engulfed him, as he disappeared. The Saiyajins quickly caught the seven spheres, now made of stone, before they could be spread over this planet, as the sky began to lighten again.

~*~

Shortly after Buffy left, Spike was able to get his left arm free, by using pure force to tear the rope. Now he was somehow trying to open the knot at his other arm. Now and then he threw a glance at the window, to see if the sun would come forth again and suddenly he saw how the sky got lighter. "Bloody hell." He was tearing with all his strength at the other rope, but it didn't want to give in. His gaze was going from rope to window every second and when he saw the sun coming back, he just squeezed his eyes shut, shielding his face with his free arm, preparing for the pain that was about to come.

But it never came.

Confused, Spike spread his fingers and opened his eyes, looking through the space between his fingers. He could see the glaring light of the sun and when he looked around, he saw that he was lying directly on the spot, where the sun was shining at. He could feel the warmth of the sun on his skin and didn't burn. Unconsciously he took a deep breath and much to his surprise he saw how his chest rose and fell and felt how his lungs filled with much needed air. Spike lay back down and put his hand on the spot on his chest where the heart should be and he could feel it. He could feel his heartbeat. He could feel his heartbeat, he could breathe, and the sun was directly shining down at him. He tried to vamp out, but noticed that he couldn't do it. "Okay… either I'm dreaming all of this… or I'm…" He felt the wounds on his chest and winced as he felt the pain. "Okay, no dream… But that could just mean… I'm human…" As the realization slowly began to sink in, he began laughing uncontrollably. "I'm bloody human!" However, he suddenly stopped dead, when he remembered that he still had to tell the others about Buffy.

Knowing that he was human, he suddenly felt new strength and with a yell he was able to also tear the other rope. He slowly sat up and untied his legs. After that, he slowly got to his feet, almost wincing with each move, because of the wounds all over his body. Spike stumbled over to the table, where Buffy had put his duster and put it on. He then went to the door, and opened it carefully. He had to blink a few times, before his eyes had adjusted to the light, but the feeling of the warm sunbeams made him almost forget that. It was something he hadn't felt in over a century (not counting the short stint with the Gem of Amara) and he had almost forgotten this feeling.

Spike looked around and immediately recognized where he was. He wasn't far from the Magic Box and he guessed that Buffy would also be on her way there, but he knew a short cut, which Buffy probably didn't know. And if he ran fast, he could make it to the shop before her. He took another deep breath, ignoring the pain, and started to run.

~*~

Buffy didn't know what she was doing. She hadn't taken care of Spike personally. She trusted that the sun would do that, or didn't she? She somehow had the feeling that she didn't want to kill Spike, but she didn't know where that feeling came from. It had been the kiss that had made her leave. This kiss scared her. It was as if something in her had awoken that wasn't supposed to wake up. Buffy shook her head. She would think of that later, but now she had a mission to fulfill. The Key was still alive.

~*~

The Scoobies and Saiyajins were now on their way back to the Magic Box and were almost there. Angel was enjoying every moment of being human on his way back. He enjoyed the warmth of the sun, felt his heartbeat and was chewing on a chocolate bar he had bought on the way.

"And now please tell me Dawn, why did you also wish for Spike to become human?" Giles wanted to know.

"That's easy. I think he earned it as much as Angel did. He protected me the whole time for the last six months and helped you with the slaying. I guess it was not just the chip that made him stop killing. His love for Buffy did this. The chip just showed him the right way. And being a vampire stopped him from being with Buffy. If he were human, it would have been totally different between them."

"Well, Dawn… You could be right. I must say I'm impressed by your arguments…"

"This is our little Dawnie," Faith said as she put her arm around Dawn's shoulder. "I wish I could've seen Spike's face, when he noticed that he became human. I'm sure he said something like 'I'm bloody human!'."

Dawn laughed at Faith rather badly done imitation of Spike, and it was at that moment that they arrived at the shop and Giles unlocked the door, so that everyone could step in.

They were just sitting for not even a minute, when they heard the back door making a racket. Alarmed, Faith, Dawn and Pan quickly got up, ready to attack, but luckily they noticed in time that it was Spike who came in from the back. Dawn was extremely happy to see him, but as she saw the wounds on his chest, she immediately grew worried, as well as the others.

Panting heavily, Spike fell on his knees, directly in front of Dawn. "Dawn…"

"Spike… what happened?"

"It… it was…"

"Spike, calm down. Wait a second, we'll help you," Pan said and looked at Faith. They helped him up and sat him down on a chair.

Dawn sat down next to him and let him take off his duster. As she thought that the wounds before were bad, she could now see much more and felt tears in her eyes. "Spike… Who did that to you?"

Spike looked at her, eyes wide. He could impossibly tell her that her own sister had done that to him. At that moment the door opened, unnoticed by everyone but Spike. "Buffy."

"What?" Dawn asked confused, but then she followed his gaze to the door, as the cheery chime of the bell hanging above the door announced a new customer.

"That would be me," Buffy, who had just come through the door, answered coolly.


	15. Just another Prophecy

**Chapter 14: Just another Prophecy**

"Buffy?" Dawn asked in disbelief, her eyes wide and already filling with tears. Somehow, she hadn't wanted to trust what the dragon had told them, but now, seeing her sister stand in the doorway, she realized that he had spoken the truth. Out of the corners of her eyes she noticed that everyone else could also just stare at her sister, but before anyone could react, Dawn jumped up and ran over to Buffy. "Buffy! You're back!" she cried, the tears now running freely down her face. However, just as she wanted to throw her arms around her sister, she felt a sharp pain in her jaw and fell to the ground. "Ow… Buffy?" Confusion and hurt spread over Dawn's face, as she rubbed her jaw. Why had her own sister just hit her?

Buffy looked down at her with cold eyes and pulled a very sharp looking knife out of her boot. "You're the Key… And this means that I'll have to kill you."

"Whoa, whoa… Wait a sec, B," Faith quickly intervened. She took a wary step forward, not once taking her eyes off the other Slayer. "Just what the fucking hell do you think you're doing?"

Buffy's gaze wandered from the girl on the ground to the young woman slowly walking to Dawn's side. Tilting her head to one said, "You're Faith, right?" While her eyes were wandering further around the room, the Slayer looked at each and every one of them closely. And even though her eyes showed recognition, it wasn't the kind of recognition they had hoped for. Her eyes were still cold, completely untouched by the reunion with her family. "Really, everyone's here… the witches, the ex-demon, the carpenter… And even the souled vampires and the seer. And not to forget, the Watcher. Do you know that we had almost met, when you were in England a few weeks ago?"

"Buffy…" Giles muttered shocked, already moving to clean his glasses, but the woman ignored him, as she went on talking.

"And you must be Pan… do you know that you aren't a Slayer? The Council doesn't know what you are… but honestly, I don't care. And your little lover boy Trunks… I know you all… Okay, not all of you," she admitted, as her gaze lingered on the Saiyajins, but she quickly waved them off. "But it doesn't matter to me. After all, you all have something in common."

"And what would that be?" Vegeta demanded to know.

Buffy smirked at all of them. "In a few minutes, you'll all be dead."

"You're kidding, right?" Xander asked, stunned. "I mean, you would never kill us, would you Buff? You're just trying to scare us. But hey, we're your friends and we're all glad that you're alive and… Why should you want to kill us?"

"Xander," Willow warned him quietly. "I-I don't think she's joking."

"The witch is right. The Council told me to get rid of you and that's what I'm going to do."

"But Buffy…" Dawn contradicted, as she slowly got to her feet again. Silent tears were still running down her face. She just couldn't believe what her sister, the same one who had sacrificed her own life to save her, wanted to kill them now. "Please, tell me that you don't work for the Council and that you won't obey them. You've never obeyed them after that thing on your eighteenth birthday and you've quit them, when they'd denied their help in healing Angel."

"Nibblet, stay away from her," Spike, who had limped over to her in the meantime, warned her. "She's not the Buffy we know. She's dangerous."

"Listen to him," Buffy agreed smirking. "He knows what he's talking about. Tell me Spike, how did you even get away? I thought you'd be dust by now."

"Well, luv, let's say I've been extremely lucky."

"But not lucky enough to have your wounds healed," Buffy noticed. "So it'll only be a matter of time until you're dust for real. But now, let's get down to it. Who wants to die first?"

Immediately, Faith pushed Dawn behind her, as she realized the real danger Dawn was in. "Dawn, go."

"But Faith! It's Buffy!"

"I said _go_!" Faith ordered, while she was looking to Pan and Giles, conveying with her eyes that they had to get Dawn away from Buffy. "And Xander, you and Trunks help Spike. He's in no shape to fight. And make sure that he and Dawn stay away."

Spike looked ready to protest, but one pointed look from the dark haired Slayer convinced him to keep his mouth shut. Instead it was Xander, who asked, "Faith, what are you doing?"

"Well, Spike is right. This isn't the Buffy we know, if she's even Buffy and not some demon that's taken her form. But that means that I can fight her. And no," she quickly said, before anyone else could interrupt her, "you can't help. This is my fight. Slayer versus Slayer, round three. And this time, I'll beat her."

"Faith, do you think that this is a good idea? I could help you," Angel offered. "You don't have to fight alone."

"I want to," Faith replied confidently. "I can do this."

"Alright, but if you need help, just yell. Take care." With those parting words, Angel was one of the first to leave the front of the door through the door leading to the backroom.

"Are you quite finished?" Buffy asked with a bored voice.

"Always the impatient one, huh, B?" Faith asked coolly, as she took off her leather jacket and revealed the form fitting black tank top underneath. Just for a few seconds, she needed to keep talking. Everyone had to get to safety first, before they could fight. Behind her, she could hear the quick and shuffled footsteps, as the others retreated to the backroom – Dawn was the only one who put up a fight, but with Pan and Giles dragging her with them, she stood no chance -, and from there hopefully to safety. But poor Giles, she thought, as she realized that the interior of the Magic Box certainly wouldn't look the same after that fight. "You always wanted that everyone played by your rules. But this time is over now."

"Are you sure they should have released you from jail?" Buffy taunted, as the two Slayers eventually began circling each other. The echoes of the last footsteps finally faded away, which meant that the two Slayers were now completely alone in the room. It was time to fight. "Because you make absolutely no sense."

"Oh, believe me, B, I've never made more sense."

Without hesitating another second, Faith took a swing at Buffy.

Buffy, however, ducked the punch and quickly slammed her fist into Faith's stomach, following with a backhand with the same fist and shoved the dark haired Slayer against the shelves, causing a few books to fall down. Taken aback by this, Faith barely managed to duck the following roundhouse kick, which destroyed the shelves completely and caused a few bottles to break. She rolled and came to a stop behind Buffy, sweeping her legs out from under her. Faith quickly got up and used the chance to punch Buffy a few times in her face, but the blond Slayer was also able to hit the dark haired Slayer, causing both Slayers to tumble to the floor.

Panting heavily, both of them got up again, standing a few yards away from each other. Both had put a huge amount of strength in the fight, short as it had been until now, and this showed. Despite the heavy breaths that escaped both of their lungs, Faith could the sweat running down her face and neck, but she smirked, as she saw the glistening on her opponent's skin. Buffy wasn't faring much better than she, but she had noticed something that convinced her that she would be the winner of the fight. Buffy's fighting style had lost all the creativity. It was perfect, flawless, but lacked imagination.

"Hey B, you know Giles would most likely want to kill you for destroying his shop," Faith taunted, wiping a bit of blood away from her lip, as she and Buffy began to circle each other warily.

"I'm sure he won't be able to do it anymore, once he's dead," Buffy answered smirking, her voice still as cold as ice and got back into a fighting stance.

A shudder ran down Faith's spine, as she heard those words, words she had never expected to hear from Buffy, the little Miss Perfect. Her fists shook with anger – the Scoobies had become her friends over the past few months and she wouldn't let anyone hurt them. Especially not Buffy. So her voice was scathing, as she asked, "Remember as I told you that you were just like me? I've never thought that you really had the guts to do something like that. Kill all of your friends like it is nothing. That's not the Buffy I know."

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Buffy yelled and lunged again at Faith.

~*~

Mirai and Xander had laid Spike on a couch in the training room and Pan was still trying to stop an upset and angry Dawn from running right back into the fight. Angel was standing in the doorway, watching how Faith was doing, still shocked by the sudden appearance of Buffy, even if she had changed, a lot and for the worse.

"I don't understand why we don't just kill this woman. I could do it with my left hand," Vegeta remarked with impatience in his voice. He was leaning at a wall in his usual stance with the arms crossed in front of his chest and a dark scowl on his face.

"We can't do that, because it's Buffy," Willow explained. "She's our friend… We don't know what has happened to her, but we have to find out how we can help her."

"The Council…" they heard Spike say through a groan, while Giles was checking his wounds. "The Council must've something to do with her change. She said that she was working for them. And didn't she say something about Pan not being a Slayer? So Quentin lied to us about her. Ouch, Watcher! That hurt."

"Sorry Spike…" Giles said and then turned to Pan and Gohan. "Do you still have some of those beans?"

"Dad?"

"Yes, of course… Here you are." Gohan walked over to Giles and Spike and gave the former vampire one senzu, who was suddenly felt all the pain leave him immediately. Adding to that he felt a new kind of strength running through his body, similar to the power he had as a vampire but yet different and much more intense.

"Wow…" he said as he sat up without feeling the slightest pain in his body. A quick check of his chest showed that there weren't even scars left. "What the bloody hell was that?"

"That was a senzu bean. They're healing people," Pan explained quickly, offering her stunned friend a bright grin. However, at that moment she didn't pay enough attention to Dawn, who noticed that and used the chance to tear her wrist from Pan's grip and doubled back towards the shop itself. "Oh shit, Dawn! Stay here!" But Dawn didn't listen, as she quickly slipped through the gap between Angel and the door. The former vampire tried to get a hold on her, but Dawn was too nimble and escaped.

"Nibblet!" Spike shouted and immediately ran after the girl, shoving Angel out of the way as he went through the door himself.

~*~

Faith and Buffy had just broken apart again from another rather heavy exchange of blows. Each tried to regain their breath, as the fight really had taken a toll on both of them. It was a bit surprising, Faith thought, as her lungs demanded oxygen and sweat burned in her eyes. Their fights had never been that intense before. But it took only a moment to realize why – the Buffy everyone knew had been holding back. She had never given everything, when she had fought her. A hollow laugh almost escaped her lips, as she realized that she never would have had stood a chance in the other two fights, if Buffy had already been willing to hurt and kill another human being back then. But she was now and it was really a fight to death. The only question was – who would win it? Faith still hoped that it was her, that she had the advantage over the other Slayer, but so far she hadn't been as successful as she had thought she would be.

Suddenly an anguished cry tore her out of her concentration, as she saw Dawn come to a skidding halt only a few yards away from them. "Buffy!"

"Dawn! No!" Buffy was closer to her and there was no way in hell that Faith would get to her in time.

And Buffy knew this, as she realized who was standing behind her. She threw a quick, superior and victorious smirk towards Faith, before she whirled around and backhanded Dawn again. The girl, surprised by the strength of the blow, hit the ground hard with a whimper escaping her lips.

Faith was frozen to the spot, as Buffy almost calmly took out a knife from her boot and stepped up to Dawn. She grabbed the girl's neck and pulled her up, exposing the pale skin of her throat to the knife. "Well, well… it seems that my main target is quite eager to become my first kill."

Dawn watched as Buffy moved the knife closer to her throat almost in slow motion. Tears welled up on her eyes and she closed them tightly, not wanting to believe nor see that it was her sister, the one who had given her own life for hers, now wanted to kill her. But at the same time, she knew that she could never blame Buffy – the Slayer in front of her wasn't her sister anymore. Something had happened to her, the Council had done something to her, changing her to become this monster. Her struggles ceased, as she decided that her sister truly seemed to be dead, and waited for death to take her – only hoping that it would be quick.

However, she never expected to hear the growl and feeling Buffy letting go of her neck. She heard something hit the floor, at first something light and then something heavy. Reluctantly, she opened her eyes, first falling on the knife a few feet away from her on the ground and then on the two bodies lying sprawled on the ground – Spike and Buffy. Spike had saved her.

Just a second later, Dawn's vision was obscured by dark hair, as Faith positioned herself protectively in front of her, the knife now lying in the dark haired Slayer's hand.

Buffy groaned, as she rose again to her feet. She had hit her head hard, when it collided with the floor. So she thought that her mind was playing tricks on her, when she saw the vampire stand in front of her, only something was different. She was stunned to see that all of his wounds were healed. "What are you doing here?" she spat venomously. "What's happened to you? You shouldn't be able to move, let alone fight!"

"I've promised a certain Slayer to protect her sister till the end of the world, before she died. And I will keep it, even if that means to fight the one I promised this," Spike said calmly, knowing fully well that he was answering only one of her questions.

"How often do I have to tell you that I'm not that Buffy!" she shouted, almost blinded with inexplicable rage and lunged at Spike.

She performed a roundhouse kick to his face, but he only flinched a bit, as it connected with his jaw. Spike swung at her, and she sidestepped the blow, before she swung back, and he grabbed her arm. Using the momentum of her own movement, he whirled her around and threw her over the desk. She hit her thigh hard, but quickly got up again, ready to continue. However, before she could act and return to the other side, Spike jumped over the desk, but she was ready for him. As soon as he touched the ground, she punched him again in his face and his chest repeatedly, all the while moving backwards back into the open space of the shop. Spike managed to get away from her ongoing assault and could land a direct hit to her temple. Buffy was spun around by the force of the hit and stumbled to the ground, where she remained lying for a short moment, dizzied from the blow.

"Well, seems like I'm still as strong as before. If not even stronger," Spike remarked casually, as he stepped up to her.

With a groan, Buffy turned around and looked up at him, her eyes widening, as she saw that he was standing directly in the sunlight. "How comes that you're not burning?"

"That's easy, pet. I'm human. A human with the strength of a vampire."

"But that must also mean, that you're mortal now," she quickly realized with a smirk, as her legs shot forward and pulled his feet away from underneath him his feet away.

Spike fell, but jumped back to his feet immediately, at the same time as Buffy. She was breathing heavily by now, bruises and cuts littering her face, while Spike still looked relatively unharmed and fit. So, when she lunged again at Spike, she felt her tired muscles protest with each punch, jab and kick. And soon, all too soon, despite her logic that she should be able to kill Spike easier now that he was mortal, she found herself down on the floor again, with Spike hovering above her.

"Faith, the knife," Spike ordered, without once taking his eyes off the beaten Slayer on the ground in front of him. As long as he held her cold gaze he was sure of two things – that she wouldn't do anything unexpected and that he would be able to do what he had to do. As long as those cold eyes were gazing at him, he could pretend that this was just another enemy, another threat, which had to be eliminated, that it wasn't the woman he loved with all his heart and soul. He blindly reached out with his hand and soon felt the cool wooden handle of the knife in his palm. "Thanks pet."

"_Spike! No!_" Dawn shouted crying, the words bringing her back to a few months ago, when she had muttered almost the same words to her sister, right before she had leaped from the tower. She didn't want to lose Buffy, her sister, again, no matter how evil she seemed to be. She struggled against Faith, who was trying to push her back and keep her from running over to Spike and Buffy.

"Spike! I can't hold her any longer! Do it!" Faith yelled at him, hating herself for uttering these words. But it had to be done.

"You hear what she is saying," Buffy said coolly, gazing up at Spike with no emotion in her eyes. Somehow, she was completely calm, not even afraid to die. The weird thing was, she felt ready to die, ready for it all to end. Her mission had failed, all the training the Council had provided her with in vain. She hadn't been able to get rid of the Council's biggest threat. But she wouldn't be the last to try, that she was sure of. "Go on," she challenged him. "But remember, when I'm dead, the next Slayer will come and hunt you down."

Spike didn't say anything, just raised his arm, ready to strike, but when he allowed his eyes to look past the cold gaze and looked at Buffy, the woman he loved so much, the woman he thought he would never see again, he felt the tears in his eyes and let the knife fall out of his hand. "I-I'm sorry. I can't do this," Spike muttered, shaking his head, as he got up and turned around. He couldn't stand it to be in this room any longer. Let someone else do it. He just couldn't. Or better yet, let her go. "I can't kill you, luv. It just wouldn't be right. Leave us now, with the knowledge that you're alive and were beaten and never come back."

Buffy stared at his back, confused. He had had the opportunity to kill her, but he had spared her. There it was again. This feeling she had had right after the kiss, and suddenly there were scenes flashing in front of her eyes. She and Spike were standing in some alley.

_"Who are you?" she saw herself ask Spike._

_"You'll find out on Saturday," he answered._

_"What happens on Saturday?"_

_"I kill you."_

Buffy groggily got up and picked up the knife. This was her chance, her chance to kill him. But as she wanted to go after him, another flash shot through her mind, this time of her, Spike and a familiar middle aged woman standing in front of a familiar looking house.

_"Buffy, terrible things have happened. What were you doing?" the woman wanted to know._

_"What, your mum doesn't know?" Spike asked and she saw herself glaring at him._

_"Know what?" the woman asked confused._

_"That I'm uh,…in a band. A-a rock band with Spike here," she answered._

She then saw the woman from the flash before lie lifeless on a couch and the next flash were pictures of a funeral, where she saw this girl, Dawn, standing crying next to herself. Buffy shook those images off and easily pushed Spike to the ground, finally wanting to get rid of him, when suddenly Dawn was leaning over him, to protect him. She hadn't even seen how the girl had suddenly gotten there. She must have been able to free herself from Faith's grip, as she saw how Buffy wanted to attack Spike. But this girl wouldn't be able to keep her from killing Spike, so she grabbed her arm tightly and shoved her out of the way. But at that moment two more scenes were flashing in front of her inner eye. The first one was showing her and some of the people she had to kill sitting or in her case standing in this shop, the Magic Box.

_"If the ritual starts, then every living creatures of this and every other dimension will suffer unbearable torment and death…" Rupert Giles, the one who said this, looked up at her. "Including Dawn."_

_"Then the last thing she'll see is me protecting her," Buffy saw herself stating as if it were the most important thing in the world that the Key should live._

In the next scene she could see herself stand on the stairs in the house that seemed awfully familiar again and Spike standing at the bottom of the stairs.

_"I'm counting on you… to protect her_,_" Buffy_ _heard herself tell Spike._

_"Till the end of the world. Even if that happens to be tonight_,_" he answered._

_"I'll be a minute_,_" she said._

_"Yeah." Buffy saw herself turn around and walk up the stairs, but she was stopped by Spike's voice. "I know you'll never love me." She paused on the stairs and looked back to Spike. "I know that I'm a monster. But you treat me like a man. And that's…"_

Buffy felt tears dwelling up in her eyes, after this image faded, suddenly not being able anymore to kill the ex-vampire. "Spike…" she whispered, almost inaudibly. She dropped the knife and raised her hand to her mouth, when suddenly everything came back to her. Every single memory that had been gone for the past six months, memories that she hadn't even known existed. Memories of a life before the Council, before she had been trained by them, manipulated by them. And those flashes were parts of the memories, _her_ memories. "Oh god…" What had she done? What had gotten into her? Those were her friends and she had tried to kill them!

"Buffy…?" Spike, his voice echoing the disbelief she saw on his face.

"You are not a monster, Spike…" was the only thing she managed to say after having this last memory flash, trying to understand what had been or was still happening to her. The tears in her eyes began to flow freely and she fell down to her knees, burying hear face in the palms of her hands.

"Buffy, luv…" Spike mumbled, still a bit uncertain, especially feeling the eyes of the two girls in his back. But the look in Buffy's eyes, when she had looked at him and said those words, he couldn't get the look out of his head. Her eyes had no longer been cold, no, they had been alive. Filled with confusion and fear, but alive. And somehow, this convinced him that she was back. He didn't know how it happened or why it happened, but their Buffy had come back, fought to get free and succeeded. Without hesitating a moment longer, he crawled over to her and hugged her tightly, feeling her tears through his ripped shirt, having to fight off his own tears.

While Spike was slowly stroking her back, one last memory flashed through Buffy's mind, the memory of what had happened before she had jumped off the tower.

_"Dawn, listen to me. Listen. I love you. I will always love you. But this is the work that I have to do… Tell Giles, tell Giles I figured it out, and, and I'm okay… And give my love to my friends. You have to take care of them now. You have to take care of each other. You have to be strong. Dawn, the hardest thing in this world… is to live in it. Be brave. Live. For me."_

"Buffy?" Dawn asked, slowly getting back up and carefully approaching her, still afraid that this might be some kind of plan of hers. But when she saw the tears, she saw that they were real. She touched her sister's shoulder, and Buffy turned around.

"Dawnie." Her voice was a bit hesitant, but Dawn wouldn't have any of it, as she slung her arms around Buffy, never wanting to let her go again.

"Buffy… You're back…"

"Oh my god Dawnie… I'm so sorry for not remembering you, all of you… for wanting to kill you… I don't know what has happened to me… This is so confusing. So sorry…"

"Shh, Buffy… not now… later," Dawn soothed her big sister, having a huge smile on her face despite the tears.

Faith looked stunned, but relieved at the happenings in front of her. Something had made Buffy remember. Upon having heard the sounds of fighting cease and most likely because Angel, who had been watching everything from the doorway had said something, all the others also emerged out of the training room and were now staring in surprise, disbelieve and delight at the reunited sisters.


	16. The Plan

**Chapter 15: The Plan**

"Soo," Faith said warily, as she watched the reunion between the two sisters, effectively breaking the silence, which had reigned ever since they had broken down on the floor and everyone else had entered the main room. "Everything's five by five? You're you again, B?"

"I guess so…" Buffy mumbled, keeping her head low. She slowly rose from the ground, inevitably pulling Dawn up with her, as the teenager wasn't about to let go off her sister's arm. With her free hand, she wiped the last tears and dampness on her face away.

"So, you don't want to kill us anymore?" Anya wanted to know, but Xander nudged her in her side. "What?"

"Actually, that's a good question," Trunks intervened. "I mean, you want to tell us that you oh so suddenly remembered everything? What if this is just a trick, to give us a false sense of security, before she kills that girl for real and we're too late to do anything?"

Buffy shuddered, almost feeling the heavy scowl of the stranger, knowing that his suspicions were only natural. "I…" she began, but couldn't continue. What could she say to convince them?

"She isn't lying," Willow stated forcefully. She turned towards the other, older Trunks with her resolve face in place. "I know my best friend and I believe that she's really back. She won't hurt us anymore."

Buffy raised her eyes slightly and stared at Willow's back in astonishment, not believing that her friend was defending her like this. The surprise only grew, when Tara came to stand at her girlfriend's side. "I-I believe so, too. Her-her aura is different. Before there was this dark energy, but now it's gone."

"If you think so…" Trunks grumbled, not at all convinced but ready to let it go for now. But this didn't mean that he wouldn't keep an eye on her. Still mumbling under his breath, he retreated again to the back to the other Saiyajins.

"Buffy…" Giles said, as Trunks was gone, still sounding a bit wary, but with tears in his eyes that betrayed his true feelings. "Are you okay?"

"A bit battered, bruised and extremely confused, but okay… But it should be me asking you this question… after all, a few minutes ago, I wanted to kill you all," Buffy muttered, still not daring to look up and meet her Watcher's gaze. "God, I _could_ have killed you! All of you."

"No, you couldn't have," Pan decided to say. She didn't know Buffy personally, but she had heard so much about the Slayer that she couldn't help but feel sorry for her. "We were all ready to step in. Each of us could have stopped you with ease."

Buffy finally looked up upon hearing the voice of a stranger and came face to face with a dark haired girl, for which her memory provided the name Pan. She had been the one the Council had made believe to be the Slayer. Buffy hadn't really noticed this before, but thanks to the new senses the training of the Council had provided her with, she could sense the raw power of her and the few men standing behind her, and at that moment Buffy believed that the girl was speaking the truth. "Who are you?"

Pan gave the young woman a small smirk. "Don't you want to ask 'What are you?'? Let's just say for now that we're not from around here and pretty strong. I promise, you'll get the whole story later… but now, you should talk to your friends…"

"Come on, Buffy," Dawn said softly, as she tugged at her sister's hand. The teenager smiled gratefully at Pan, as she led Buffy towards the miraculously still intact table further in the back of the room. The whole front part had been completely demolished by the fight between Faith and Buffy. "Sit down… You have to be exhausted." However, before they reached the chairs, Buffy squeezed her hand and walked over to where Angel was standing with the rest of his fang gang.

She hesitated a moment in front of him, their eyes locked, before she hugged him tightly, relishing in his strong arms around her. None of them said a word, completely lost in their own world. They didn't even notice the piercing look that was directed at them.

When Spike saw the loving embrace shared by Buffy and the Poof, he immediately felt the jealousy burn fiercely in his blood. He still loved that woman, no matter how stupid that was, especially now. He had never had a chance with her before, but now that the Poof was human, his chances to be with her, for her to return his feelings, were below zero percent. The great Ponce was, after all, the love of Buffy's life, her soulmate and all that bloody shit. She would be stupid, if she didn't go for this chance – no more happiness clause and growing old together and start a family should sound appealing to both of them.

"You wanna sit with us?" Spike heard Buffy ask the Poof, however, Captain Forehead just shook his head gently, as they loosened their embrace.

"You go sit with the Scoobies. I won't go anywhere."

"Okay…" She seemed almost reluctant, as she let go of Angel and sat down on the chair next to Dawn. Buffy offered her sister a small smile, though it came more out as a grimace.

"You okay?" Dawn asked in a whisper. "Can I get you anything? Something to eat or to drink? A blanket? A pillow?"

"No Dawn… but thanks… But…" She shook her head. "I'm… I'm not sure I even deserve this… How can you just forgive me? I tried to kill you!"

"Oh Buffy," Giles said gently, as he sat down on her other side. "How can we not forgive you? You weren't yourself… Whatever has possessed you, it must have had something to do with you being back alive and the Council…"

"Oh yeah, right… I died… I remember… But I did try to kill you! I really wanted this! In my head there was all the time 'Scoobies bad, Key bad, Slayer bad, kill them all.'"

"But you didn't, Buff," Xander contradicted, sitting down across from her and taking her hands, which were clasped in front of her on the table, in his own. "You stopped. I mean, you stopped, when you tried to kill Spike… something which I really don't understand… but you stopped."

"Yeah, Buffy," she heard Willow say, at the same time, as she felt her friend's hand on her shoulder. "You stopped. As Giles said… you weren't yourself. You must have been under some sort of spell. I'm sure, Tara and I can figure out which one it is, when you tell us, what's happened to you."

Buffy swallowed hard, watching the witches, as they walked around the table and took their seats next to Xander. A strangely quiet Anya was standing behind Xander and she could feel every single eye in the room on her – even the gazes of the fang gang and the strangers. She wasn't sure, if she really wanted to talk about her time with the Council now. How she had been there. Who she had been there. How could she explain that she had been the perfect little Slayer, mindlessly following the Council's orders, never remembering who she really was, while she had been preparing for her mission here in Sunnydale?

"Buffy?" Dawn asked carefully, tearing her sister out of her thoughts.

Shaking her head slightly, Buffy mumbled, "Sorry… It's just…"

"Geez, if you don't want to talk about it, just say it," Anya finally broke her unusual silence. "But if you want us to help you, you should tell us. I mean, there are hundreds of spells out there that could have done this. Memory spells, brainwashing spells…"

"Thank you, Anya," Buffy smiled at her, startling the ex-demon. Buffy knew that Anya was right and for once was glad that she had voiced her opinion as openly as she was used to. Somehow, this gave her the courage to begin to talk. However, before she could actually begin, a slightly sheepish voice stopped her.

"Uhm," Pan said carefully. "Before you start… because I think it might take a bit longer… can we please order some pizza? I'm starving…"

A round of chuckles caused the slight blush on Pan's face to deepen, but Buffy was glad that the girl had managed to lighten the mood a bit. Despite the somewhat happy occasion, the whole situation had been slightly gloomy and teary, and it wasn't about to get better, once she started with her story.

So, after a slightly flustered Giles had ordered some family sized pizzas, knowing the appetite of Pan and Mirai Trunks and guessing that their families could rival them, Buffy began her tale.

"The last thing I remember before… it was talking to Dawn on top of the tower… telling her I love her… and then jumping. It hurt… and then everything was fuzzy. I don't know how much time had passed until I could begin to think again. I was a child and couldn't remember anything of… my other life… this life. And as soon as I could think, I was training. I was growing… I was growing so quickly… and before I knew it, I was grown up. The Council… they were training me… preparing me to… to kill you all." First one tear, then another tear slid down her face, but Dawn's arm around her shoulder and Xander's hand still gripping hers gave her the strength to continue.

No one knew how much time had passed, when Buffy finally finished her story – which had only been interrupted for a minute by the arrival of the pizzas. She had given them every small detail of the past few months in England, not missing anything, thinking that even the smallest part of her story could be important. So were the Scoobies stunned to learn that Buffy was also able to perform small ki-attacks and that she had grown stronger as well. And they were surprised to realize that apparently Spike sparing Buffy's life had been the trigger for the memories – actually, no one was more surprised about this than Spike himself, who allowed a small smug smirk on his face, which was, of course, directed at Angel.

They spent a few moments in silence, after Buffy was finished, everyone of the Scoobies lost in thoughts and the others not daring to disturb this moment. Still, the Saiyajins, unused to this kind of inactivity, slowly began to fidget, and it was a big relieve to them, when Giles finally cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention, and asked, "Buffy… Now that the Council has obviously turned against us, do you have any idea, what we might do? I mean, I'm asking you, since you seem to have been close to Quentin and he appears to trust you unconditionally…"

"I understand, Giles," Buffy told him with a small smile. "Do you think I should let him believe that I'm still their mindless little soldier? Maybe to find out more about how and why I've come back?"

Giles seemed to think about this for a short moment, which Buffy used to look at her friends. They all appeared to be opposed to the idea or at least reluctant to accept it, according to the dark and thoughtful looks on their faces. The only exception to this was, much to her surprise, Dawn, who, while still looking thoughtful, also had a look of deep concentration on her face, before it changed to a look of pure determination.

"Actually, yes… I think in this situation, this might be the best idea… Although it seems to be a very dangerous route to take. I don't know what he would do, if Quentin discovered that you are no longer loyal to him and that you remember everything."

"He won't suspect a thing…" Buffy promised Giles. "I… I've become better at acting. I will tell him that my mission was successful… that I've killed all of you, just as he's told me to. He will order me back to England, where I will use my free time to snoop around."

"And to make sure that he won't get in your way, I'll come with you."

Buffy whirled around to face her sister, the shock of Dawn's statement clearly visible on her face. "What the hell are you talking about? You're not coming to London with me!"

"Why not? Why just tell Quentin that you've killed me, if you could bring me to him? Maybe the Council wants to do some experiments on me."

"No way!" Buffy shook her head vigorously. "I won't let you go anywhere near Quentin or the Council!"

"But it would give you some time to figure things out. I mean, as long as Quentin is busy with me, your way is free."

"Dawnie…" Buffy was nearly pleading right now. Here was her little sister, her baby sister, ready to endanger her life. This was not, what she had died for. "Please…"

Taking off his glasses and beginning to clean them with a white handkerchief, Giles quietly cleared his throat, before he said, "Actually, Buffy… Dawn's idea has merit. Her presence at the Council could give you enough time to find out why you're back and how you're back."

"No…" Again shaking her head, this time lightly, Buffy took Dawn's hands and looked at her imploringly. "Dawn… please… think about it. Once you're in their hands… I don't know what they're going to do with you… I don't even _want_ to think about it."

"Buffy… don't worry…" Dawn said with a soothing voice, tugging a strand of her sister's hair behind her ear. "While you were gone, things have changed a bit here. I'm no longer helpless or defenseless. I've been training hard with Mirai, Pan and Faith and I've become about as strong as a Slayer with the added benefits of being able to fly and shoot small ki-attacks. You can trust me, Buffy. I can take care of myself." Suddenly, a wide grin spread over her face. "And besides, we've got some incredible strong allies. The Council will never know what hit them, when the Saiyajins unleash their power on them."

"Saiyajins?" Buffy asked confused. "What are Saiyajins?"

"That'd be us," Pan told her grinning. "I told you, we're not from around here. And we'll do anything to protect our little Dawnie."

"I'll second that, B," Faith agreed. "And if it makes you feel better, we'll come to Giles-land at once, when you or little D need us."

"At once? How? Has Will gotten the teleporting spell down?"

The redhead shook her head and it was Pan, who answered her question. "Nah, even though she's pretty close. But Faith is talking about something I can do. I know a technique called Shunkan Idou and it's basically the same as teleporting, only that I'm not teleporting to a place, but to a person, as long as I know their ki."

Buffy didn't say anything to that, but instead was again lost in thought. Giles and Dawn were right – with Quentin completely focused on Dawn, she might have more time. And Quentin might also be more trusting of her, if she brought him the Key. But she didn't want to get Dawn into danger anymore, not after she had sacrificed her life for her. She would never forgive herself, if something happened to Dawn in London. It was somehow hard to believe that her baby sister could take care of herself – she had only been gone for a few months after all.

"B, what about this?" There was a mischievous smirk on Faith's face, as she crossed her arms over her chest. "Why don't you let Dawn prove that she can take care of herself?"

Buffy raised her eyebrow at her sister Slayer. "And how do you suggest I do that? It's still light out, so I think patrolling is out."

A quiet chuckle reached her ears, as she turned around to see Spike walk up to them. He hadn't said a word the whole time and it gave her a strange feeling to remember what had happened between them – before her death… and after. She forced herself to meet his eyes – still the startling blue she remembered – and asked, "What is it, Spike?"

"Ah, I know what Faith here wants you to do. A sparring match, between you and the Lil Bit. You'll win, of course, with the experience and added strength, but I'm sure lil sis can hold her own."

Buffy wanted to vehemently refuse, but the excited sparkle in Dawn's eyes convinced her to give it a chance and that was how she found herself and Dawn standing across from each other on the sparring mat in the backroom, with the others lounging around the room at the walls. She still worried that this was too much for Dawn, but just a minute into the fight, when she was suddenly lying face down on the mat, Buffy had to realize that her sister was far better than she had thought and that she needed to put a lot more into the fight to win.

So she quickly got up again and into a flawless fighting stance, which resembled Dawn's, before her sister attacked again. This time, the fight was more evenly matched, even though Buffy still didn't use all of her strength and skill. Still, she was very impressed with the progress Dawn had made in her absence, and just knew that her sister was just as good as a normal Slayer without the advanced training she – or Faith for that matter - had gotten. And, Buffy realized with a small smirk, this sparring match was actually fun.

However, after a few more minutes, Buffy decided to take the fighting up another notch or two, forcing Dawn to go to her limits, and finally got her little sister with a powerful jab in the face, which sent the younger girl tumble to the floor. Her eyes widened, and immediately she was kneeling at Dawn's side, as the teenager slowly got up again. "Oh Dawn, I'm so sorry," she cried, when she saw the bleeding nose and red coloring around her eye, which would sure turn into a nice shiner by the end of the day. "I didn't mean to hit so hard!"

But much to her surprise, Dawn was grinning brightly. "That was amazing, Buffy! We have to do this again, once everything's back to normal."

"But…" Buffy mumbled, wiping some of the blood away with her thumb and letting her other hand trail gently around her eye. "I hurt you…"

"Nah, that's nothing. It will be gone in a day or two… or maybe three. Besides, now your story to the Council will be even more believable, when you drag me there. I mean, it has to look like as if I at least put up a good fight against you." Suddenly the grin on Dawn's face faltered. "You will let me come, won't you?"

Buffy thought for just a second, because after this sparring match, how could she doubt that her sister could take care of herself? It was with teary eyes, that she combed with her fingers through Dawn's long hair, and mumbled, "You've grown up so much, Dawnie…"

"Is that a yes?" Dawn asked, also feeling tears in her eyes.

Buffy only nodded, before she pulled Dawn into a tight hug. "Yes…"

The rest of the day was spent with many different reunions. While Buffy was finally properly welcomed back by the rest of the Scoobies with many tears and many hugs, and they spent a lot of time talking to each other, starting to fill her in on everything she had missed, Pan spent her time with her family - Gohan, Goten and Trunks grilled Pan on her life in this dimension and she tried to answer all their questions more or less patiently. Gohan seemed especially keen of wanting every single information about how she and Mirai had gotten together, if he was treating her well and so on.

Buffy even tried to include Angel and Cordelia, after Wesley had begun to question the Saiyajins more about their own history, but once Wesley had started his interrogation, everyone else also tuned in to listen to that conversation, because they were truly curious about the life of Pan's family. That was also how Buffy got filled in about the Saiyajins, the Dragon Balls, the plan to resurrect her with a wish and what the wishes eventually turned out to be thanks to Dawn.

"Still can't believe I'm bloody human," Spike had uttered at that moment, with a grateful grin towards Dawn. "I mean, a bloody human with my old strength. Maybe even a bit more… I really can't wait to test that. What about it, Nibblet? Next sparring match between you and me? After all those months I really want to see myself, what you can do."

Again, Buffy had wanted to say something against it, but the eager nodding of Dawn's head stopped her. Although she and the Scoobies had been talking almost non-stop about what she had missed, it was obvious to anyone watching that Spike's bond to the Scoobies was now much stronger than it had been before. He was a part of them now.

And speaking of Spike… Buffy began to gnaw on her lower lip, as her gaze wandered to Angel.

Soon, much too soon for her taste, it was becoming dark outside and Buffy knew that she had to head back to the hotel soon. Once there was a convenient pause in the conversation, she got up from her chair. "I'm sorry guys… I really, really want to stay, but it's getting late and I should probably go back to my hotel."

Dawn was immediately hugging her again. "Already?"

Buffy nodded. "I'm sorry, Dawnie… but I'll be back first thing in the morning."

"Buffy…" Pan said, approaching her. "If it's because of me sleeping in your room… I can take the couch or share with Mirai, so that you can sleep there."

"No, it has nothing to do with you. I simply have to go back, because my stuff's still there and Quentin wanted to call me tonight… I need to tell him that I've killed you all and got the Key after all. I promise, I'll come back tomorrow and hopefully I know by then when my flight back to England leaves."

"Can I come with you?" Dawn asked, her lips quivering slightly.

"Oh Dawnie," Buffy hugged her tightly. "I won't leave again. I'll come back, I promise. But you can't come with me tonight… There's… there's something else I need to do first. And if Quentin asks to speak to you, I'll just tell him that you were too annoying and that I knocked you out."

"Me? Annoying?" Dawn huffed, slowly letting go of her sister. "Never."

"Of course you are," Buffy quipped. "You're my little sis, after all. Goodnight, Dawnie…"

"Goodnight, Buffy…" Dawn mumbled and hugged her sister one more time. "I love you."

"I love you, too, Dawn." It was hard, much harder than she had imagined, to let go of her sister and turn to the one person she still needed to talk to. "Angel… would you like to walk with me to the hotel."

"Of course, Buffy." Angel smiled at her softly, his chocolate brown eyes burning into hers.

She wished she could hold his gaze, but instead averted her gaze and looked at her other friends. "I guess I'll see you all tomorrow… And then we can talk about our master plan of infiltrating the Council. Goodnight…"

Mumbled goodnights followed her, as she and Angel left the shop and began walking towards Buffy's hotel. The hotel wasn't that far from the Magic Box, so that it took them only about ten minutes until they were standing in front of the door. All of that time was spent in awkward silence, as neither of them knew what to say. However, the moment they stopped and it was time to say goodbye, Buffy knew that she couldn't wait any longer.

"So…" she began hesitantly, hoping to keep her voice light, as she clasped her hands behind her back and did everything to avoid Angel's gaze. "Dawn told me about what happened after you were turned human… that Cordy kissed you… and that you didn't seem to be too averse to it."

"Buffy…" Angel began, but Buffy raised her hand to stop him

"I'm happy for you… Cordy has changed so much since she's left Sunnydale," she smiled sadly. "And don't deny that you feel anything for her, because I can see it, Angel. It's in your eyes."

"It's not…" Angel shook his head. "I mean, Cordy's helped me a lot, when Willow told me about your… about you saving Dawn. She comforted me and helped me to continue with my life. What I want to say is, I love you, Buffy… And now, with this second chance at life… without being weak or vulnerable… I want to spend this chance, this life with you."

"Hush," Buffy whispered, putting a finger to his lips. Tears began to fall again, as she whispered, "Close your eyes." As he did, she carefully began to float and kissed him softly on his lips. He leaned forward, wanting more, but Buffy pulled away before he could do anything. Angel opened his eyes again, asking her with his gaze 'Why?', but Buffy's only answer was, "I love you, Angel. You have been and always will be my first love. But we're not in love, anymore, Angel. The way you look at Cordelia… the light in your eyes… it's the same as you used to look at me. But not anymore. You might love me, Angel, but you're in love with Cordelia."

"But what about you?" Angel mumbled, cupping her cheek in his hand.

"I'm not sure at the moment… Everything's so confusing. But you should take your chance. Go to Cordy, tell her how you feel, and start your new life with her. Be happy with her." A few more tears ran down her cheeks, and as she wiped them away, she forced a smile on her face. "And do it now, before I change my mind."

Angel's eyes were so warm, as they rested on her, so grateful and relieved, and all of this was conveyed in his voice, as he leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Buffy's forehead. "Thank you, Buffy."

And just like two and half years ago, Angel turned around and left Buffy without another word, only this time, Buffy's heart felt a lot lighter, as if relieved from a heavy burden.

Buffy wiped the last tears from her eyes, as she closed the door to her hotel room behind her and slid down at it. Burying her face for a moment in her knees, she took a few deep breaths to regain her composure after all the emotional turmoil she had been put through in the course of this day. Many different emotions were warring within her, but one was much more prominent than all the other.

Happiness.

The happiness was even stronger than the guilt about what she had done or the anger at the Council, because finally after long months, she was home again, she was with her family again. She could see Dawn grow up, glad that she didn't have to miss any more moments of her sister's life.

When all of this was over, Buffy just wanted to have a calm and normal life – the nightly patrolling and occasional apocalypse aside of course. She wanted to spend time with Dawn and her friends and not worry about the next apocalypse as she had been wont to. Buffy just wanted to… live.

But first she had to deal with Quentin and the Council. Her fists balled at her sides in anger at the lies she had been told, about the brainwashing the Council had tried – and apparently succeeded in. It would be incredibly hard to not rip Quentin's head off the moment she saw him. But as she had told Giles, she had become a better actor – she could pull this through.

At exactly that moment, the small cell phone, which had been lying on her nightstand the whole day, decided to ring.

With a grim look of determination, Buffy rose from her seating position at the door and picked up the phone. Just as suspected, the display showed Q. Travers.

Her act would begin now.

After another deep breath, Buffy flipped the phone open. "Yes?" she asked in the coolest and most indifferent voice she could muster – the same voice she had used over the last few months.

_'Good day, Buffy. Or should I rather say good evening?'_

"Hello Quentin," Buffy greeted him, not answering his question. "I'm sure you'll be pleased to hear that I've been very successful today."

_'Indeed I am. May I enquire as to how successful you were?'_

"Of course." She allowed a small grin on her face, as she prepared to lie to him, and to enjoy every single moment of it. "I've got all of them. I picked them off one by one. First the vampire, then the two witches. The ex-demon and carpenter were almost too easy after that. Even the Watcher was boring – he didn't even defend himself. The two strangers put up a good fight, but they were no match for my special abilities. And for last I left the Slayer. She was fiercely protective of the Key, but I got her, too."

_'And the Key?'_

"Still alive, but on purpose. I thought she might be useful for the Council… for research, if you know what I mean."

A low chuckle reached her ears and Buffy was relieved that Quentin seemed to think that keeping Dawn alive for the Council's experiments on dangerous and rare artifacts was a good idea. _'Put her on the phone. I really would like to exchange a few words with her.'_

"I apologize, Quentin, but that's not possible. After I killed the Slayer, she attacked me and I had to knock her out. She's still out cold and I don't think she'll regain consciousness until morning."

_'Very well. You did a good job, Buffy. I'm proud of you. Your being called was the best thing that could have ever happened to the Council. However, I'd like you to come back as soon as possible. Tomorrow preferably. I'll arrange a flight for you and the Key to London and I'll send you a message with the information of your flight. Just make certain to keep her subdued during the flight – I don't want a scene or any special attention.'_

"Of course, Quentin. I'll take care of that."

_'Very good, Buffy. Now I wish you a good night. You deserve your rest.'_

"Thank you, Quentin. Goodbye."

Buffy slumped down on the bed, after she had closed the phone. Just as expected, it was incredibly hard to keep up this act. But she had to do it. For Dawn, for the Scoobies and for herself. And as soon as she got all the information she needed, she was going to take Quentin down. It was about time for a few changes within the Council and their methods.

~*~

Soon after Angel had returned to the Magic Box it was decided that it was better to call it a day. But before they all left, the sleeping arrangements had to be decided. After a short discussion, everyone was ready to go – Wesley was going to sleep at Giles' place, Angel and Cordelia were going to take a room at a hotel, because they had to talk, as they put it, and the Saiyajins were to go to Revello Drive, as this was the house with enough room for the rest.

Everyone seemed to be satisfied with those arrangements, at least until they were standing in the living room and Pan announced that Vegeta and Gohan were to sleep on the couches (Spike stayed in Dawn's room, since the teenager was going to bunk with Faith and Pan and Mirai were going to share a room of course, so that Trunks and Goten could take her room). Vegeta complained of course, but Pan effectively shut him up by threatening him to tell Bulma about his being uncooperative, much to Mirai's astonishment, which he was still amazed about, as he and Pan were lying curled up against each other in his bed about an hour later.

"I still can't believe you did that!" he marveled for about the hundredth time, or at least it seemed to Pan that he had already said that so often.

She just chuckled again. "And I've already told you that I'm not the only one who talks to him like that or stands up to him for that matter. One of the benefits of being a female Saiyajin. His daughter Bra's really got him wrapped around her little finger, but maybe that's because she's his little princess. Well, and Bulma of course, but only because she mostly acts like a Saiyajin. It helps that he really loves her."

Mirai shook his head lightly. "So much has happened. Not just today, but in your past. I feel like I don't know my father anymore and find out so many things about your family and my family. But it seems that all the changes have been for the best – except for Goku's death, of course…"

Pan only hummed in agreement, already half-asleep. Just as Mirai had said – this day had really been exhausting. First she had regained her memories, had to tell Mirai about it, then the unexpected appearance of her family, the Dragon Balls, finding out that Buffy was still alive, Spike and Angel becoming human, Buffy appearing at the shop and wanted to kill them all and last that she regained her memories, too.

It really had been much to process for all of them and Pan couldn't even begin to imagine, how Buffy was feeling. She had to be just as exhausted as she, if not much more.

But at least, Pan realized with a small smile, it seemed that they were all going to get their happy ending after all.


	17. Merry ol' England

**Chapter 16: Merry ol' England**

Everyone met at the Magic Box the next morning, after Buffy had called them to let them know their time of departure. They were to leave from Sunnydale Airport at eleven o'clock in the morning, so it was still quite early, when Xander presented them with donuts and coffee and they all talked about their plan.

Willow and Tara had been quite busy the night before, as they had enchanted several small objects to serve as listening and contact devices, so that they could hear what was going on and could talk to Buffy over the long distance. And they had even gone a step further, by cloaking them to make sure that none of the Council's magic detectors would notice those 'bugs'.

Too soon it was time for Dawn and Buffy to leave. The Scoobies wished them good luck and that they would come and help immediately, if needed. With this promise in mind, the two sisters took a cab to the airport, however, the friends they left behind still needed to pass the seemingly never ending hours until nighttime.

While the two sisters were on their way to the Council, the Scoobies, Saiyajins and fang gang were waiting impatiently that they would finally arrive there. Buffy promised to contact them via the magical bugs, as soon as she was in the library, and she also wanted to bug Travers' office, when she brought Dawn to him, so that Dawn could question him a bit. Of course they knew that it would take a few hours for them to go to England, but none of the people who were at the Magic Box wanted to leave, of fear to miss something.

Ever the scholar, Gohan was considerably impressed by that magic (and magic in general) and spent the first couple of hours quizzing Willow and Tara – with Anya giving her two cents every now and then – about everything they could and wished to do.

After two hours of waiting, Faith suddenly jumped up. "I can't take it anymore, this waiting. Pan. You. Me. Training room. Now. I need to do something."

"Sometimes I think that you can read minds. A small sparring match is exactly what I need now," Pan said smirking and followed Faith to the room in the back.

"What do you think?" Willow wanted to know. "Should we follow them and watch a bit? It's better than just sitting here and doing nothing." The others agreed with her and all of them also went to the training room, where Faith and Pan made a few warm ups.

"Mmh, I wonder how strong Pan really is," Giles wondered thoughtfully as both girls got into a fighting stance.

"The Slayer won't stand a chance against her," Vegeta told him. "Now that she remembers everything, she knows her strengths. You'll see."

At exactly that moment, both girls lunged at each other and it soon was clear that Vegeta was right. Pan was simply too good, even though she was still holding back and Faith was outmatched and about half an hour later, Faith surrendered, breathing hard and raising her hands in defeat. "Wow P, that was great. You're really strong. Fucking incredible."

"Thanks, Faith. But I guess when I'm home again, I have to train harder than before. I'm a bit out of shape," Pan replied laughing.

~*~

A few hours later the plane finally landed in London. From that moment on Buffy and Dawn had to be careful, because they didn't know if the people of the Council were watching them. On the outside of the airport a car was already waiting for them. Buffy pushed Dawn roughly into the car, and climbed in after her. "Hello Mr. Stevenson," Buffy greeted _her Watcher_ on the front-passenger seat.

"Hello Buffy. Is this the Key?" he wanted to know, throwing a disgusted look over his shoulder to where Dawn was sitting. Dawn was playing her role well – huddled up in one corner of the seat, as far away from Buffy as possible, with her arms wrapped tightly around her stomach, obviously mourning the loss of her friends.

"Yes, it's her," Buffy replied coldly, keeping a tight hold on her emotions. At this very moment, there would be nothing more satisfying than punching Stevenson.

"Very well. Quentin will be pleased." With a nod he turned his attention back to the front and told the driver to return to the Council.

After about half an hour of driving through London, they arrived at the Watcher's Council. It was a big and old building, looking nothing like the cruel institution it was. Actually, it looked more like a traditional university building. When Buffy got out of the car, she grabbed Dawn's wrist and pulled her along with her, while Stevenson got her bag. "Is Mr. Travers in his office?" she asked.

"I'm sure he is. But why don't you go to your room first, to refresh yourself after this long and I'm sure quite strenuous journey? I can take the Key to him," Stevenson suggested.

"No, thanks. It was my mission and I want to finish it," she told him smirking and pulled Dawn along with her into the building. Buffy didn't look over her shoulder to see how Dawn was, because she knew that if she saw just the slightest grimace of pain on her sister's face, she wouldn't be able to pull this through. And it was imperative that Quentin and the other Watchers believed her charade until it was time to reveal herself.

After walking through what seemed like endless corridors, Buffy and Dawn finally arrived in front of Travers' office. His secretary was sitting at her desk and staring at Dawn with something akin to pity in her eyes. Probably for the first time since knowing her, Buffy thought that maybe this woman wasn't as bad as she had always thought. "Hey Nancy. Is Mr. Travers in there?"

"Hello Buffy. No, he isn't in there. But he will come back in a few minutes. You can go in and wait. How was your trip to Sunnydale?"

"Everything went fine. We'll go inside then and wait for him," Buffy told her and she and Dawn entered the office. Once inside, Buffy sighed quietly and quickly looked Dawn over to make sure that she was alright. Dawn gave her a reassuring smile and moved to one of the two chairs in front of Travers' heavy mahogany desk. None of them were talking, except for Buffy telling Dawn to sit down in a rather rough voice, too afraid that someone might overhear them talk. While Dawn was sitting down, Buffy took one of the magical bugs and stuck it under the desk and muttered the spell Willow had quickly taught her that morning in Sunnydale. Then, she took another small button and put it into her ear, which she hid under her long hair. Now, almost everything was ready.

~*~

"Hey!" Willow suddenly said, sounding extremely excited. "Buffy's activated the bug for Quentin's office. That means they have finally arrived." Thanks to Willow's hacking skills, they had easily managed to get a blueprint of the Council's building, which they had printed out and spread on the table in the Magic Box. On that map a small red dot was shining brightly in what appeared to be Quention's office.

_'Hey Will, can you hear me?'_ they heard Buffy whisper.

"Yeah, loud and clear. And I'm recording everything." A glittering green stone was lying next to the map – their magical recording device. "Are you alone in the office?"

_'Quentin's not here yet. But he will be back soon.'_

"Okay, good luck then. See ya later." Willow sighed quietly and crossed her fingers. Everything just had to work out. "Pan… maybe we should get ready, too. It'll only be a matter of time, until we can join her."

"Sure thing," Pan replied grinning.

~*~

After Buffy and Dawn had waited for a few minutes in silence, the door finally opened. Buffy tensed slightly, but forced her muscles to relax again, as Quentin Travers stepped inside, wearing a very self satisfied grin on his face. He was probably thinking that this was all his doing. Well, she really couldn't wait to show him.

"Hello Buffy," Quentin greeted her, when he closed the door and sat down at his desk. "It's nice to have you back and to see that you were successful."

"As I've already told you, there weren't any problems. And see, I've even brought you a gift."

"The Key…" Quentin's eyes sparkled with greed. "Finally. While it might have been your original mission to eliminate the Key, Buffy, I'm still glad that we will have this chance to study it further. Its power might be of tremendous help to fight the forces of darkness. You know," he continued, now directed at Dawn, who was glowering at him, with her hands firmly crossed in front of her chest. "You can really thank Buffy for being still alive. It was her idea to bring you to England for a scientific purpose. You might even say that you're a lot better off than your friends in Sunnydale."

"Bite me," Dawn snarled, unknowingly imitating her sister, as Buffy had directed the very same words at Quentin Travers many years ago.

Travers chuckled lightly, clearly amused by Dawn's behavior, as he also used the very same words he had once said about Buffy. "Yes, well, colorful girl. Buffy, you're dismissed. You can go to your room and do whatever you want to do, while we two," he said to Dawn, "will have a small talk."

"Thank you, Quentin. I will get some rest. But call me, if I'm needed again."

"Of course, Buffy. Have a nice day."

Buffy nodded her thanks and very reluctantly left the office. With each step that she took outside, she tried to tell herself that Dawn had become much stronger and could take care of herself. Besides, the others back in Sunnydale were already telling her about everything that was happening in the office, even though she wouldn't answer. When the door clicked shut behind her, Buffy nodded towards Nancy, still not showing any emotions on her face, and quickly walked towards the part of the building, where her room was situated. However, instead of turning right at the end of one of the corridors, she turned left, and continued her track towards the library. "I'm on the way," she whispered, knowing that her friends would hear her and be ready.

-

Once the door was closed again and Quentin was sure that Buffy was clearly out of earshot, he said, "Okay, Key…"

"Dawn," the teenager interrupted him through clenched teeth.

"Excuse me?"

"Dawn. My name is Dawn. Dawn Summers," she told him scowling.

"Well, _Dawn_," Quentin chuckled. "Don't you think it's ironic, how Buffy killed all of your friends, without knowing that they were her friends once, too?"

"What have you done to her? 'Cos I know that my sister would never willingly kill her friends!"

"Oh, Dawn, we didn't do anything to her. We trained her, made her stronger. We were her family in the last six months."

"You're lying!" she hissed, fake tears rolling down her cheeks. But inwardly, Dawn grinned. Who would have thought that she was such a good actress? "You turned her against her best friends, against her real family and made her kill them. She would never do that, not if you hadn't done anything to her!"

Rising from his chair, Quentin began to walk around the desk and to circle Dawn, until he came to a halt directly behind her. Putting his one hand on the armrest of the chair and the other one on its back, he leaned down so that he was close to Dawn's ear, as he said quietly, but forcefully, "Listen, I will tell you something. When we came to Sunnydale with the information about Glory, we knew that Buffy would die."

He chuckled darkly once again, as Dawn gasped in surprise.

"Yes, we knew that she would die protecting the Key, because there's a prophecy about the Slayer, who dies to save life. The Key is life, but we didn't know then that _you_, my dear little girl, were the Key. That's the reason why we agreed to your sisters demands. We first found out that you are the Key, when one of our employees saw you bleeding on the tower, and that Buffy jumped into the portal to save your life. But the prophecy also told us that she would be reborn and it took us only a few days to find her, because she aged much faster that your usual child. She aged about a year per day. But, fortunately for us, she didn't remember anything, so we thought we could finally get her to our side."

Dawn couldn't believe what she was hearing. They had known? All this time, they had known that Buffy would die? And they still just stood back and didn't do anything? White hot anger shot through her veins, but she reigned it in. Of course they did. They wanted their perfect little soldier, and this had been their chance. But why did they come back to Sunnydale? Why did they want to get rid of the Scoobies?

"Why our friends?" she eventually asked in a choking voice.

"That's easy," Quentin told her, as he straightened and walked back to his chair. "You were always troublemakers. Always interfering with the Council's methods. Because of you, Buffy quit the Council. And Faith… Well, she had been nothing but trouble from the very beginning. We believed that when she's finally dead, another Slayer will be called and that we would then have two Slayers on our side. It will only be a matter of time, until we find the new girl."

~*~

The noise of something shattering accompanied by a furious snarl echoed through the Magic Box, causing nearly everybody to flinch. They turned around and saw Faith clenching her fists, a murderous look on her face. "I'm gonna kill him;" she hissed, only relaxing slightly, when Pan put a calming hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Faith," she said. "We _will_ make him pay."

Heavy breaths could be heard, as Faith struggled to control her anger. No one dared to interfere, especially as most of them could easily understand her sentiments. They had always known that the Council only saw their Slayers as a tool, but that they would go that far, none of them had thought possible.

_"Guys?"_ Buffy's quiet voice broke through the silence. _"I've arrived at the library. It's empty, except for the usual guards in front of the restricted section. But if you arrive right next to me, nobody should notice you."_

"That's great, Buffy," Pan said. "We'll be there in a moment."

_"Good… How's Dawn doing?"_

"Dawn is just fine, don't worry, Buff," Xander reassured her. "She can handle Quentin."

_"Okay…" _A sigh of relief could be heard. _"I'll see you in a few."_

"It's show time," Spike said grinning, rubbing his hands in anticipation for a good fight, but at the same time, the growing tension in the Magic Box was clearly noticeable. Everyone became unusually quiet, the calm before the storm.

"Okay," Pan said, her voice firm and her body ready to fight. "Giles, Faith, Spike, Xander, Willow and Tara, get a hold on me. You'll be the first ones I'll bring to Buffy. Then I will go back to get the rest of us." Following her orders, the Scoobies put their hands on Pan's shoulders, her back or took her hands. She took a deep breath, before she concentrated on Buffy's ki and disappeared with the Scoobies from the Magic Box.

~*~

Buffy was looking around the library, wringing her hands nervously, as she was waiting for Pan and the others to arrive. Anya was still keeping her updated and in addition to the tension of waiting, it took everything she had not to run back to the office and hit Quentin – she really couldn't believe that the Council had known of her sacrifice before it had even happened and that this had all been a very elaborate plan to get her to their side.

Buffy was still almost completely alone, but the two Watchers who were guarding the restricted sections didn't really count, as she could easily take care of them herself, and everything was eerily quiet, so it startled her almost to death, when her friends suddenly appeared directly in front of her. Even though Pan had explained the workings of this teleportation thing to her and the others, it was still incredible.

"Wow!" Willow exclaimed excitedly, as she took in her surroundings. "Now, that's what I'd call a library. No offense, Giles."

"None taken," the Watcher replied dryly.

"Hush," Buffy hissed, looking around frantically and listening for footsteps. "Be quiet, or someone will hear you." Blushing, Willow mimicked zipping her mouth shut. Buffy couldn't help but grin at her best friend's antics. She hadn't really realized it, yet, but she had missed her friends without even knowing them. "Pan, can you get the others now, please?"

"Sure thing." Again Pan concentrated, only this time on Mirai's ki, as she put two fingers to her forehead and disappeared, only to reappear again not even a minute later with Mirai Trunks, Trunks, Vegeta, Gohan and Goten. Anya and the fang gang had decided to stay at the Magic Box, to hold the fort in Sunnydale and to give Buffy a running commentary of what Quentin told Dawn.

"Very well," Giles said quietly, once everyone was there. "If it hasn't been changed, the restricted section with the secret and dangerous books, as well as the Watchers' diaries and prophecies, is in the back. Is it still guarded?" he asked Buffy.

She just nodded. "But the two Watchers are really no problem for us."

~*~

Dawn tried really hard not to strangle Quentin, as he went on and on, boasting about everything the Council had done and planned in the past year, all the terrible things they had wanted Buffy and then, once Faith was dead, the unsuspecting poor new Slayer to do. However, her self-restraint didn't need to be tested any longer, as suddenly a short Japanese man stormed into the room. Dawn remembered Buffy saying that this was Yasuo, the man who had trained her in the past six months. "Mr. Travers, Sir," he panted, slightly panicked and out of breath. "We have problems."

"What? What do you mean?" Travers wanted to know, already jumping to his feet and glancing at Dawn, who still had a quite innocent look on her face, though inwardly, she began to worry. How did they found out this quickly?

"I can feel some unknown and unusual high kis in this building. They're in the library," Yasuo explained quickly.

Dawn's eyes widened in shock, as she heard that. _Damn!_ They hadn't known that this man could sense kis! Travers' eyes locked on Dawn again and when he saw the look in her eyes, he realized that they had been played. "You! You and your sister, you lied!"

Dawn returned his gaze with full force, as she replied coolly, "Yes, we did. Everyone's still alive. Buffy's remembered who she really is just in time. She's no longer your mindless little soldier!"

Instead of saying more, Quentin walked over to Dawn and grabbed her wrist forcefully, pulling her out of the office, with Yasuo on his heels. At first, she was too startled by this sudden development to defend herself, but then she decided to lay low for now. It would be much better, if he still thought that she was a weak girl, so that he would underestimate her, once it was time to show what she could really do.

As they passed the desk in front of Quentin's office, he ordered, "Nancy, call the security. There are invaders in the library. Probably in the restricted section."

"Yes, sir," Nancy muttered quickly and already raised the receiver of the phone to her ear. Dawn threw her a pleading look, hoping that she wouldn't do as Quentin said, but the woman was obviously too intimidated by the Head of the Council to ignore his orders, as she was already speaking.

~*~

In the meantime, the Scoobies and their new allies were deeply immersed in the most interesting books in the restricted sections, while the two guards were lying unconscious and bound hidden behind some shelves. Fortunately the books were catalogued, so Willow and Giles could quickly narrow down the books they could search through. This saved them a lot of time and they had better chances at finding something before they were found out.

And indeed, it wasn't even ten minutes into their search, when Willow cried out in surprise. She was holding a very old book in her hands, with brown leather binding and yellowed pages that were filled with tiny handwriting. At first she had been skeptical about this book, seeing as it was written in some ancient and unknown language, but what caught her attention was a page torn from notebook with English words written on it. Inwardly she shook her head – those Watchers clearly weren't good at hiding evidence.

"Guys! I've got something here!" She climbed down the ladder and hurried over to Giles, past the two poor Watchers who had had the misfortune of having guard duty that day.

"What is it Willow?" he wanted to know, as he put a book back into the shelf and took the one Willow handed it to him. He looked at the opened page and immediately saw the extra page from the notebook that had been inserted in the ancient pages. Giles read the page and then a look of surprise and at the same time understanding crossed his face. "Buffy, could you please come over?"

"Sure, is something in this book?" the blonde Slayer asked, relieved that they had obviously already found something and that she didn't need to do more research, no matter how important it was.

"Yes, I think Willow may have found something. It's a, ah, a prophecy. Or rather, a translation of one." Ignoring the mutterings about 'Stupid prophecies' from his protégées, he read aloud, _'She who died to save life will arise anew. Innocent as a child, just knowing her destiny, she will grow to enormous strengths. Stronger than before, she'll be reborn, ready to go her destined path. But just true love can show her the right way._"

"And what exactly does that mean, Watcher?" Spike walked up to them to take a look at the book.

"Well, I think it means that a Slayer sacrificed herself to save life. In my research about the Key, I've found out that it can also be referred to as life energy, or simply life. So, Buffy sacrificed herself for Dawn. Then, after her death, she was reborn and grew within a few days until she reached her old age, just as Buffy has told us. And we've have also noticed that she has become much stronger than she was before she died. This prophecy also explains her memory loss, even though she remembered her destiny as a Slayer. And…" Giles hesitated, as he reached the last part of the prophecy. He pushed his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose and resisted the urge to clean them. This was truly unexpected, if he interpreted it correctly.

"And what Giles? What does this 'true love' thing mean?" Buffy finally asked. Somehow, this passage gave her the creeps.

"I don't know exactly," Giles admitted sheepishly. How could he explain this to his Slayer without scaring her? But then, he thought, it could be much worse. "But I have a suggestion. Buffy, you said you had visions of your past, shortly before you remembered everything. What kind of visions did you have exactly?"

"Well, they were all vision of me and…" Buffy said, as the realization sank in. She stared at Giles with wide eyes and began to shake her head frantically. He just had to be wrong! "No way! You mean this-this true love thing… Me and… No… This is impossible! There must be a mistake somewhere…" She eventually just grabbed the book and leafed through it like crazy.

"Buffy, luv, what are you talking about?" Spike asked the question, which was on almost everyone's mind.

Mirai Trunks chuckled lightly, suddenly remembering the one conversation he had had with the former vampire. Now that he thought about it, it all made sense. "She's talking about you, Spike. Remember when you told me that you thought that you felt for Buffy something like true love. And Buffy remembered everything, when she fought you, so…"

"We don't have time for that now," Vegeta suddenly interrupted them, as he came up to them. "We're getting company."

At exactly that moment Buffy also heard Anya tell her through the magical bug in her ear that Travers knew that they were there. "Vegeta is right. Anya just told me the same. What are we going to do now?"

Curious, as she suddenly felt countless kis enter the library, Pan floated up into the air, so that she could just look over the shelves and saw how at fifty men, obviously security guards and Watchers, were taking positions and readied their guns and crossbows. With a huge grin on her face, she landed again and faced the others, "So, we're totally outnumbered. And they have weapons."

"Sounds like a bit fun," Goten told her, also grinning, as he was rubbing his hands in excitement.

"Fun?" Giles asked bemused. "Personally, I don't think that it's fun to have to face something that resembles a small army."

"Come on Giles," Faith tried to cajole him, "we have six Saiyajins, two Slayers, two witches and one former vampire. You and Xander just stay in the background and we take care of them."

~*~

Quentin Travers arrived at the doors to the library at the same time with about fifty security guards and other Watchers, all of them bearing weapons. He nodded at them and then looked at Yasuo. "How many are there?"

"I can feel fifteen kis, some of them unusually strong, but two are very low. I believe that those two kis belong to the Watchers who have guarded the restricted section."

Despite the slightly worried look on Yasuo's face, Quentin just cleared his throat. "Very well. This means we have thirteen opponents, but they are outnumbered. This really shouldn't pose a problem and if they, for whatever reason, should prove to be stronger than expected, we still have our little trump card."

He tightened his grip around Dawn's wrist and pushed the door open. The guards and other Watchers filed in behind him and fanned out on his left and on his right side, as they moved steadily forward towards the restricted section. Once they had reached it, everyone came to a halt and Quentin quickly whirled Dawn around so that he was holding her in a chokehold in front of him, pushed against his chest.

"Buffy," Quentin said loudly. "I know that you and your friends are in there. I'd strongly advise you to come out and surrender. Don't forget, I have your sister here with me. So, if you want to see her again alive, I'd suggest you follow my orders."

-

"Dawn…" Buffy whispered almost inaudibly. Even though she had experienced Dawn's progress at martial arts first hand, it was extremely hard to just stand back and let her sister handle herself.

"B," Faith put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her slightly forwards. "Go… talk to him…"

"No, we need a plan…" Buffy disagreed. If she just rushed out there without a plan, Dawn might be in trouble.

"No, not this time, B, believe me." Faith shook her head. "And now go and don't worry about Dawn. She'll be okay. We'll do the rest."

Buffy hesitated for another second, looking into her sister Slayer's eyes, before she eventually nodded and left their hiding place.

As soon as Buffy had stepped forward, leaving the security of the shelves, a smirk appeared on Quentin's face. Buffy's eyes briefly connected with Dawn's, who gave her older sister a reassuring look, before Buffy finally stopped just a few yards from Quentin and his makeshift army.

"Well Buffy," Quentin said, "it seems as if you've changed sides."

"Yes, I have," Buffy replied confidently. "Because I know now where I belong."

"I see…" the Head Watcher mused. "But would you still feel this way after I've killed your sister?"

"You won't dare."

"Oh yes, I will. And there is just one way I'll let her live. You come back to the Council. But not just you. I also want Faith and the other girl, Pan, to work for the Council, without questioning us. That's the only way that I let your sister and your friends live and leave this place. But why don't we ask them? I'm sure they're also hiding."

Having listened to this, Pan and Faith just looked at each other and, without saying something, turned to join Buffy. "Where are you going?" Mirai wanted to know, quickly grabbing her hand.

"We'll help Buffy," Pan answered with a quiet sigh, as she squeezed Mirai's hand. "Don't worry, nothing will happen to us. And maybe I'm able to scare a few of those security guards away."

Reluctantly, Mirai released her hand. Deep down he knew that his fear was irrational – Pan was a Saiyajin after all, and not even bullets could harm her. "Be careful."

"Always." She gave him a quick peck on his lips, before she turned back to Faith and together they walked up to Buffy and flanked her. "Here we are, Quentin."

"Pan, it's nice to finally meet you," Quentin said with a delighted voice. "I've heard so much about you."

Raising her eyebrow, Pan replied, "For having heard so much about me, you really know nothing. Well, except for those things you wanted me to believe. But I'm really happy to tell you that I no longer believe your lie about me being the Slayer. I admit, six months ago, this really made a lot of sense, but now that I remember everything…"

"You… you remember?" Quentin stuttered, taken completely by surprise.

"Yep… everything. Who I am, where I come from… and most importantly, _what_ I am. And trust me, when I say, that you would have wished for me to be a Slayer, once you see what I really am." While she was saying this, Pan began to raise her ki slowly but steadily. She wouldn't stop until she had made Quentin wet his pants or gotten a comparable reaction from him, even if she had to turn Super. Soon the shelves behind her and the ground underneath their feet started to tremble slightly.

Though it was obvious that Travers and his men were slightly shaken, the Head Watcher did his best to appear unimpressed. "Nice show, Pan. Is this the witches' doing? Ah, it doesn't matter. I'm more interested in how you can be as strong as a Slayer."

Smirking, Pan answered, "No, it's not Will and Tara. It's all my doing. As to how I can be as strong as a Slayer, well… I guess I first have to inform you that I'm not as strong as a Slayer, but much, _much_ stronger."

"Sir," Yasuo mumbled, completely stunned, "she is right. Her ki is rising… It's incredible… No human being should be that strong…"

"Maybe that's because I'm not human." Pan was still smirking, especially as she realized that she had now reached the edge of the transformation. More for show than anything else, she let her ki explode around her with a yell. A blinding light flashed through the library, as her hair turned from black to golden. Some of the guards were knocked out, after they had been victims of the shockwave, and other scrambled away, when they saw the result of the transformation. Golden flames were surrounding Pan and there was a dangerous look in her green eyes. Travers' eyes were wide, even though he still fought to regain his composure. Sure, the man had seen a lot in his life, he had even been face to face with some nasty demons, but he had never witnessed a transformation like that. The smirk on Pan's face grew even wider. "What's wrong, Quentin. Never seen a Super Saiyajin before?"

"What are you?" Quentin asked breathlessly. "What demon?"

"I'm not a demon." Pan sounded almost insulted, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I'm a Saiyajin. Right now a Super Saiyajin. I would _really_ recommend you to retreat your guards, or…" Without another warning, Pan extended her right arm and, after having made sure that there was no one behind it, shot a ki ball with the size of a tennis ball at one of the walls. An ear-shattering explosion shook the library, as a large part of the wall was obliterated by that relatively small ki-ball.

"Impossible," Yasuo only mumbled, while Quentin appeared to be truly speechless for the first time that night.

Well, it wasn't the wet pants Pan had hoped for, but at least it was something. "This was just a small part of my power. And there are still five other Saiyajins in the back, five Saiyajins who surpass me in power."

"Nice," Faith hissed, resisting the urge to high-five Pan. She threw a quick glance at her younger sister Slayer (no matter what Pan said and really was, she was still a Slayer in Faith's opinion – Pan had truly deserved that title) and also noticed that Buffy looked a lot more confident now than before.

It was also the older Slayer, who spoke now that Pan's performance was over. The other girl had even let go off her power and was once again black-haired and black-eyed. "What do you say now, Quentin? Do you give up?"

"I don't think so," Quentin, who had quickly regained his composure and ability to speak, roared and a knife, which had obviously been hidden in a sheath under his sleeve, slipped into his hand. This knife he quickly raised to Dawn's throat. "All these past six months, I've been working towards destroying the Key and you troublemakers. I might have to let you live, but if not under the control of the Council, the Key is too dangerous. It has to be destroyed. And now I will finally do it."

However, Quentin had not expected Dawn to be anything but a weak and defenseless little girl, so he wasn't prepared to the sudden and sharp pain shooting through his body, as Dawn's pointy elbow was buried in his stomach. The knife dropped to the floor, before Quentin could use it. Using the momentum of her previous movement, Dawn leaned over and pulled Quentin easily over her shoulder, slamming him into the ground, where he remained lying with a groan. Walking around, so the he could see her, Dawn said with a happy grin, "Sorry Quentin, but I had some training in the last few months. No one will be able to kill me that easily now. Am I still 'colorful'?" With her head held high, Dawn walked over to Buffy, who put an arm around her younger sister. "So guys, _now_ you can come out."

The others didn't need to be told twice, especially as the guards had all fled by now (the hole in the wall having been the last straw), and emerged from their hiding place. Once she had been joined by her friends, finally knowing that this was where she belonged, Buffy crossed her arms in front of her chest and asked, "Quentin, do you remember the one time you and some of your fellow Watchers came to Sunnydale, wanting to test me, interrogate me and quiz my friends?"

Quentin Travers, who had slowly managed to get to his feet again with some help of Yasuo, only nodded. Oh, how he remembered this. Back then, they had still believed that it was only a matter of time until the Slayer was theirs. Back then they hadn't realized yet, how their plan would misfire.

Taking his nod as all the encouragement she needed, Buffy continued, "I remember that I told you that I had power and that you just came to Sunnydale to beg me to let you come back in, not the other way around. I thought I've made myself clear, but after what I've heard of what you've told Dawn, I see that I didn't. So, I want to repeat that now. You saw what this girl" she nodded to Pan, "is able to do. She's one of my friends now. You've lied to her, you've lied to me. You told her that she's the current Slayer and you didn't tell me anything about me. You used me to kill my friends, and most importantly, my own flesh and blood, my sister. We're both victims of the Council's – of your – manipulation. Girls aren't mindless soldiers, Quentin. You of all people should know that by now. You also said that my friends are troublemakers, that my sister is dangerous, and have told me to eliminate them. And I almost did. You used a girl, who had an accident and lost her memory, told her that she's the Slayer, just because she seemed to be as strong as one. But both of us remember now.

"What I want to tell you is: From now on, you're really working for me. You can stay at the Council, but you won't make any important decision without telling Giles, who will become the new Head of this institution. If you ever come again near my sister or my friends without me wanting it, I will personally kill you."

She left it at that warning for now. About other things the Council had to do, she would talk to Giles at a later point. With Angel and Spike both being human now, they needed an identity. They needed to be a part of society, with birth certificate and all that other stuff you needed to exist. While it was important, it was not as important as getting back to Sunnydale and to her life.

"Faith, is there still something you'd like to add?"

"Sure B." Faith swaggered over to Quentin and stopped right in front of him, looking back at Buffy. "May I?" The other Slayer nodded, failing at hiding the grin on her face. "Okay. That's for wanting to kill me as Buffy was in my body." She punched him into the stomach, causing him to double over again. "And this is for the second time you wanted to kill me." With a nice hook, Faith hit him square in the face. Quentin went to the ground for the second time within ten minutes. "Oh, and thank you for getting me out of jail." Winking at Travers, Faith turned around and walked back to Buffy and the others. "Okay, I think we can now go back to Sunnydale. Or what do you think?"

"Well, I've spent the last half year living here. And I've learned something… I don't like England," Buffy quipped.

"Okay, everyone who wants to go back to Sunnydale, get a hold on me!" Pan called out, smiling.

This time, the Saiyajins went first, but after Pan had returned to the Council and it was the Scoobies' turn, Quentin Travers asked them to wait for a moment. Excusing himself, Giles walked over to where Quentin was leaning heavily on Yasuo and looked at his colleague with a deathly glare that was all Ripper. "You want to say something?" Giles asked coldly.

Nodding, Quentin said quietly, "It's hard to admit, but your Slayer is really special, the greatest Slayer in history. Take good care of her."

"I'd tell you to save your breath, but… you're right. However, I've known this since the very beginning." Giles voice became fond, as he uttered the last words, but he quickly became serious again. "I'll be returning with Buffy and Faith in a few days, so that we can discuss the future organization of the Council. I will tell you only once that it wouldn't be in your interest to rebel against Buffy and her friends. We will know, if you plan something."

Without waiting for a reply, Giles turned on his heels and joined Pan and his other protégées. A split second after he had put a hand on Pan's shoulder, they were gone.


	18. Epilogue Endings and a new Beginning

**Epilogue – Endings and a new Beginning**

The moment everyone was finally back in Sunnydale's very own Magic Box, the Scoobies were hugging each other fiercely. After a long time of being apart, they were finally reunited again. Congratulations for the show they'd all put on in England and how they had dealt with Quentin were exchanged. They were all sure that, this time, the Council wouldn't do anything as stupid as attacking the Scoobies again. But just to be on the safe side, they had recorded everything Quentin had told Dawn in his office and as long as Quentin wouldn't notice the small magical bug in his office, they would continue to do just that.

However, during their small celebration, Buffy did her best to avoid Spike. She often noticed him looking at her, and though she knew that they would have to talk eventually (after all, if he really was the one the Prophecy had referred to, there was a lot to talk about), she always quickly averted her gaze. So she was glad, when Xander finally interrupted their hugging and talking with a loud,

"Hey, guys! It's still an early night in good ol' Sunnydale, so what do you think of Bronzing?" He grinned widely, as he had effectively gotten his friends' attention. "Or are you guys too tired?"

Buffy raised an eyebrow as she looked at her friends. "I'm not tired… what about you?"

"I'm never too tired for Bronzing," announced Pan, which the others agreed to.

"Bronzing? What's that?" a confused Goten wanted to know.

"The Bronze is the best club in town," Pan explained. "Well, the only club in town, but still the best one. The only bad thing is that many vamps are hanging out there, looking for some food. But that won't stop us from going there. So, what do you think?"

"Well, why not… I think we can party a bit, after what happened today… and yesterday…" Goten answered with a grin. "I mean, we have enough reason to celebrate."

"A truer word has never been spoken, my friend." Xander slung an arm around Goten's shoulder. "Let's go!"

"Wait," Buffy stopped him, as he was about to leave the Magic Box. She was looking down at her clothes with a disgusted look on her face. "Before we go, I have to get out of these clothes. I don't want to wear anything Quentin bought for me."

"Don't worry, Buffy," Dawn said to her sister with a reassuring smile on her face. "We've kept all your clothes. Okay, I might have borrowed one or two things, but I'm sure you'll find something cute to wear tonight."

Buffy let out a sigh of relief before smiling at her friends. "Okay, then what are we waiting for? Let's get pretty for the Bronze!"

~*~

About half an hour later almost everyone was waiting downstairs in the living room. Only the girls were still missing. They had all gone upstairs to get changed, while the men were waiting rather patiently, even though they were slowly getting impatient, for them.

"Why do girls always take so long?" Goten mumbled, as he glanced at the clock. "I mean, we men never take so long to get ready."

"That's because you have no sense of style," Trunks teased him, as he looked at his friend with a scrutinizing look. And he wasn't too wrong. After all, Goten was dressed in one of Xander's very colorful Hawaii shirts and beige pants.

"Shouldn't someone go up there and get them?" Angel, who was still dressed all in black, asked uncertainly.

A low grumble alerted them to Vegeta's mood, as the Saiyajin muttered, "I don't understand this whole thing… I would rather stay here."

"Come on, dad," Trunks said cheerfully. He had borrowed one of Mirai's nice shirts, which was a dark blue color, as well as a pair of jeans. "I'm sure it'll be fun."

Vegeta simply grunted and continued to ignore them with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

"Of course it'll be fun. Or what do you think, Watcher?" Spike, who was, just as Angel – much to his dismay - still dressed in black, asked.

"Well, for you young people, I'm sure it will be. However, I think I'm finally after five years beginning to understand, what you understand of 'having fun'."

"Mr. Giles, if it's boring for us in the club, I'm sure we can talk to pass the time more productively," Gohan suggested and earned a grateful smile from the Watcher.

"How long have they already been in there? I think it's time to go," Trunks eventually turned the attention back to the fact that the girls still hadn't come downstairs again. "If we don't get going soon, the others will have to wait for us at this club."

Mirai sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, okay, I'll go and see what keeps them…" Without another backward glance, Mirai ascended the stairs to Buffy's room, where he guessed the girls would be.

~*~

While the men were waiting rather impatiently downstairs, the girls were almost finished. All of them had found something to wear in the closets of the girls living in the house and it was obvious to everyone that Buffy was more than happy to finally wear her own clothes again. For this night she had chosen one of her favorite dresses – it was baby blue and knee-long – and sandals with low heels. Dawn on the other hand had chosen something less fancy, just a tight dark green T-shirt and black jeans, while Faith had donned her usual leather pants and a deep red blouse. Cordelia had, like Buffy, chosen a dress, only that hers was longer and red like fire.

A quiet knock at their door sounded just at the moment, when Buffy closed the clasp of her necklace, and after she had said, "Come in", Mirai stepped inside. His gaze wandered around, as he said, "The others are waiting downstairs and they sent me to… wow," he gasped, as he saw Pan. His eyes wandered from head to toe and back again. She was wearing high-heeled black boots, which went up to her knees, a black miniskirt and a night blue halter-neck top. This was something he had never seen on her before, and he liked it.

"You like what you see?" she asked him teasingly, as she walked up to him.

"Oh hell yes…" He leaned down and placed a soft and short kiss on her lips. He knew that if he deepened the kiss now, they would never leave this room.

Pan sighed against his lips, as he pulled away, but the teasing grin was quickly back on her lips. "But you don't look too bad yourself."

Trunks smirked down at her, knowing full well that he looked good tonight. He had decided to forgo formal wear and instead just chose his favorite and at the same time best blue jeans (he would never wear the ones during patrols!) and a tight black T-shirt, which showed his well-built body.

Suddenly they heard Faith clearing her throat. "I'm sorry to interrupt you guys, but we're finished here and I think we should go down now."

~*~

Goten just came out of the kitchen, his hand holding some cake, of which about half was in his mouth at the very same moment, as the girls finally came down the stairs. But he had to swallow hard and almost choked, when the last couple descended the steps. Once his coughing fit had subsided, he stared at them with wide eyes. "Panny? What happened to you? You- you're wearing a skirt. Man, how did you get her into that?" he asked Mirai.

"I didn't do anything," Mirai Trunks answered honestly, with a grin on his face.

"Panny, I hope you'll tell me, when I should get worried about you."

"Don't worry Goten. I'm still me… I've just widened my taste for clothing a bit." At that moment, the others came out of the living room and spotted Pan. Gohan's jaw dropped to the floor literally. He had never seen his daughter wearing something like this, as well as Trunks. "Hey you two! Are you coming?" she snapped them back into reality, when everyone had already left the house and just they were still standing in the corridor.

"Mmh? Oh, alright…" Gohan said, still dumbfounded and walked past Pan. He turned his head to look at her one more time, before he shook it. He knew he had to accept that his little girl was now a grown up woman, who had managed to live with amnesia for six month.

Trunks on the other hand didn't say anything, as he walked past Pan. He was still shocked by her outfit. He somehow found it too bad that he hadn't seen the woman in her before he fell in love and bonded with Marron. But he admitted to himself that it's better for her to be with his other self, not just because he's nearer at her age, also because he knew that this man is a better Trunks than he ever would be.

~*~

It didn't take long for them to arrive at the Bronze. Just as Trunks had already suspected, Xander, Anya, Willow and Tara, who had gone home to change, were already waiting for them. After they had bought a couple of drinks and talked for a bit, the younger generation soon was to be found on the dance floor, while Giles, Wesley, Angel, Gohan and Vegeta were sitting at a table, talking (Vegeta was of course feigning disinterest and didn't engage in the conversation).

Only Spike was neither with the group on the dance floor, nor with the other men at the table. He was sitting at the bar, nursing a beer and watching the others. He still had a hard time to accept that Buffy was alive, just like that. And in addition to that, he should be the one who had made her remember everything? That was simply unbelievable.

A quiet sigh escaped his lips, as his eyes were once again drawn to the blond Slayer on the dance floor, as she was laughing with her sister and her friends, and dancing as if she didn't have a care in the world. Even though she was a Slayer, she still belonged into the daylight, and while he was now a human, Spike didn't believe that he was worthy of her. There were too many voices, voices which he managed to keep quiet for now, that whispered those things to him.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he suddenly saw a movement and groaned, when he realized who was now walking up to him.

"Spike," Angel said, as he joined him at the bar. "Can I talk to you?"

Spike suppressed the urge to say something sarcastic and instead just asked, "What about?"

"It's about Buffy…"

"Oh," Spike felt something raging inside him. A fire which he quickly recognized as jealousy, but if he had learned something in the great story of Buffy and Angel, it was when to admit defeat. "The Slayer's all yours. You're the better man for someone like Buffy."

"That's…" Angel fidgeted, as he struggled with the words. Spike raised an eyebrow. "That's the whole point… I don't love her anymore… And she doesn't love me… At least we're not _in love_ anymore. You know, when I walked her home yesterday, she told me this and she was right. But she was still too confused about her own feelings." He shook his head. "However, she saw something I didn't want to see. Over the course of the last two years, I think I fell in love with Cordelia…" His gaze drifted to the dance floor, to where the song had just ended and the girls were on their way back to their table.

"Queen C?" Spike snorted. "Wow, I never saw that one coming…"

"Spike…. What I want to say is, even if I still loved Buffy, she would never feel the same for me, because I think that she's in love with you."

~*~

"What do you think they're talking about?" Cordelia asked, looking over to the bar where Spike and Angel were sitting. "One would think that those two couldn't manage a civil conversation without killing each other."

Buffy followed her gaze and inwardly agreed with Cordelia. It really looked like Spike and Angel were talking normally with each other. Then, to answer Cordelia's question, she said with a light grin, "I can't say for sure. But I think that Angel is talking about you. According to the dreamy look in his eyes." A giggle escaped her lips, when she saw the flabbergasted look on Spike's face. It seemed like Angel had just told him about his feelings for Cordelia, otherwise Buffy couldn't explain that look.

"What are you talking about?" Cordelia asked, immediately averting her eyes from Angel. Then, Buffy saw something, she thought she'd never see on Cordelia Chase's face. She was blushing. However, just as she wanted to tease Cordelia a bit more, Faith cut in,

"Come on, Cordy," she interrupted them. "Haven't you noticed the look in his eyes whenever he talks to or about you? That guy's absolutely fallen for you." At that moment the fast song ended and the DJ decided to play a slow and romantic one. "Now take your chance, or I'll have to help you."

"You won't dare!" Cordelia nearly squeaked.

"Oh yes, I will," Faith smirked and was immediately gone, sauntering up to the two former vampires. Buffy and Cordelia could only stare after her, as Faith began to talk to them. She had grabbed both of them tightly by one shoulder and after she had spoken for a few seconds (with each passing second the looks on both Angel's and Spike's face became more dumbfounded), she literally whirled them around by force and pushed them into their direction. Instead of following them, however, Faith sat down on Spike's chair and immediately commandeered his beer.

Buffy could feel her heart beat hard against her chest, as Spike came closer. A well-known feeling to her, fight-or-flight, was rising up in her body, but before she could do anything, he was suddenly standing in front of her. She couldn't take her eyes off him – he looked just as nervous as she felt – and only vaguely registered Angel asking Cordelia for a dance and then the two of them disappearing somewhere on the dance floor.

Instead of saying something, anything, to her, Spike just extended his hand. Ignoring the boring looks of her friends and sister in her back, Buffy shakily raised her own hand and put it into his. Apparently feeling more confident that she hadn't hit him for this move, Spike tightly clasped his fingers around hers and pulled her with him to the dance floor. However, his confidence suddenly seemed to leave him, once they were in the middle of embracing and swaying couple. His hold on her hand loosened slightly, as he carefully put his other hand on her hip and the two of them began to sway as well, just a lot more awkwardly than the others.

Pan had watched the exchange between the two not-yet-but-probably-soon-to-be-couples with a slight grin on her face, especially the exchange between Buffy and Spike. After all, Spike's feelings for Buffy had always been more than obvious, and even though she didn't know Buffy that well, Pan was sure that somewhere, deep inside, the Slayer just had to feel more than friendship for the former vampire. And maybe, maybe the Prophecy was true and it really was true love between them. She hoped that it was, for both of them. They really deserved it.

Lost in thoughts, Pan started slightly, when Trunks suddenly appeared in front of her, holding out his hand for her. "May I have this dance?"

Pan looked down at his hand, back at the nervous smile on his face and then glanced to Mirai, who had gone over to Gohan and was in deep conversation with her father. Surely, one dance couldn't hurt. "Okay," she whispered, as she took his hand and followed him to the other couples.

"You really have changed," Trunks commented after a few seconds of slightly uncomfortable silence between them. "I don't think that Bra would recognize you in this outfit with the skirt and all."

"So, it's a good thing or a bad thing?" Pan asked him, a light teasing tone in her voice.

"I think it would give her a heart attack and after that she would start screaming and yelling and tell everyone that you've finally grown out of your tomboyish ways."

"Who says that I've grown out of it?" she commented with a smirk.

"Hey, that's what she will say, not I… But honestly, in my opinion, this suits you. I mean, you're still you, but new and improved, if you get what I mean." Trunks sighed. "It's no wonder that _he_'s fallen for you."

Pan raised an eyebrow. "Are you jealous?"

Trunks laughed, shaking his head. "Not jealous, just protective. I just want him to treat you right."

"He does. He loves me, really loves me. And I love him just as much."

"And you're happy, really really happy?" Trunks asked imploringly

"Deliriously happy."

"Then… I'm glad…" Suddenly, without saying something, Trunks leaned forward and pressed his lips against Pan's forehead. Then, he let go off her, turned around and left the dance floor. Confused, Pan followed him with her eyes. He was talking to Mirai, clapping him on the shoulder, and then, Mirai got up and walked up to her. Pan welcomed him with a bright smile.

While they were swaying, Buffy spotted Pan and Mirai, holding each other tightly and smiling, as they were swaying to the music. They looked so comfortable and happy with each other, that something constricted in Buffy's throat. Sure, she was dancing with Spike, but this was awkward, it felt forced. They weren't talking, weren't smiling, hell, they weren't even looking at each other! This couldn't go on like this, Buffy suddenly decided and stopped dancing.

Finally, Spike looked at her, confusion and hurt evident in his eyes. "What's up, pet?"

Trying to swallow the gigantic lump that had appeared in her throat, she said, "Spike, we need to talk."

Spike sighed. "Yeah, I think we should." There was so much they had to talk about. "But not in here, not with this noise. Let's go outside."

"Okay…" Buffy agreed. Hesitantly, Spike took her hand and together they walked through the masses of people towards the exit. On their way out, Buffy saw something that made her at least a bit happy. In the darker back, Angel was pressing Cordelia against a wall in what appeared to be a very intense make-out session. It seemed that at least they had come clean about their feelings for each other in the last few minutes.

They were the only ones outside, which suited them just well. But instead of lingering at the entrance, they walked a bit further down the alley, just to make sure that they really wouldn't be disturbed.

Buffy fidgeted nervously with her fingers, now that Spike had let go off her hand. He was looking at her and she knew that she needed to say something. After all, she had told him that they needed to talk, so she needed to do some talking. But there were so many things in her head and she didn't know where to start and she was sure that once she had started, she wouldn't be able to stop and she didn't want to unload a Willow-sized ramble on him tonight.

But she couldn't wait any longer. So, taking a deep breath, she finally said, "Spike…"

However, she didn't come far, as Spike interrupted her. "Buffy, stop, I know already what you want to say."

"Really?" Buffy let out a humorless laugh. "Because even I don't know what I want to say… Or how to say it… So I think you should just let me do it, okay?"

"Okay," Spike backed off, now getting curious. If the situation weren't so serious, he would say that it was adorable how Buffy was playing with her fingers, how flustered she was.

"Spike," she eventually began again and inwardly told herself, _Here we go. Prepare for the Willow-sized ramble. _

Spike watched as she took another deep breath, before she finally started to talk.

"Spike, before I… fought Glory… I meant it, as I said that you're not a monster. You are a man. Okay, now you are definitely one, since you're human. But when you told me that I treated you like a man, even though you thought you knew you were a monster, I knew deep down that you were wrong. At this time, you were already a man, Spike. You were a vampire, right. But you were not a monster. A monster kills, but you protected my family. Always. You've never hurt Dawn. That's why I asked you to take care of her. I knew that you would protect her with your life. And that was enough for me to die in peace, knowing that she would always be safe with you."

Wearily, Buffy sat down on some steps of an old warehouse, forcing herself not to look away, to look directly at Spike, because that was what he deserved. He opened his mouth, apparently wanting to say something, but she just shook her head, effectively silencing him.

"The prophecy was right. Shortly before I remembered everything, I saw visions of you and me, how you pissed me off and how you promised me this. I've thought about this the whole time since we've come back from England and I… I think I know now that… if I'm able to trust someone like I trust you… there just has to be something like…"

Spike never heard the big revelation, as just at that very moment a high-pitched scream echoed through the alley. Buffy and Spike exchanged a look and as one they were off, heading into the direction of the scream. The scene that greeted them was not unfamiliar to both of them – two vampires cornering a teenage girl.

Stepping forward calmly, Buffy asked with an innocent tone in her voice, "Hey! Is everything okay here?"

"Run!" the girl only yelled, tears running down her cheeks.

"I would listen to her…" one of the vampires said as he walked over to Buffy. Just as he was a few steps away, he showed her his true face, apparently wanting to scare her, and added, "This place isn't safe for you."

Buffy smirked, of course not at all intimidated by him. She really loved this game and was once again more than happy to be back on her playground. "Really? 'Cos I'd think that this place isn't safe for you." She pulled out a stake of her pocket and threw it to Spike. "Spike, take care of the other one."

"Sure pet," he answered and, once he had caught the stake, lunged at the vamp.

"While I take care of this one," Buffy finished with a low voice. She pulled out another stake and began pummeling on the stunned vampire. Out of the corner of her eyes, Buffy saw that the girl used this chance to run away. _Smart girl._

Spike managed to dust his one within a few seconds and looked just up to see how Buffy was about to finish the other off. "Who are you?" the vampire asked, when he was lying on the ground.

"I'm Buffy," she said and brought the stake down into his chest. "The Vampire Slayer." She pulled out the stake and the vampire disintegrated into dust. She rose to her feet and dusted her blue dress off. There was of course dirt all over it after this fight, and Buffy cursed under her breath, wondering if it would ever get out again.

"So, Buffy, what did you want to say before we were interrupted?" Spike wanted to know, once he came to a halt next to Buffy.

Buffy looked at him, a hard and determined look in her eyes, as she only said, "This."

She pulled his face down and pressed her lips against his. He tensed for just a second, before he began to move with her, opening his mouth to her tongue. His hands rested on her arms, while their lips were moving against each other in a dance that was so new and so familiar all the same.

When they finally broke apart, both were out of breath, but they were both feeling good, better than they had in ages. Pushing a stray strand of hair out of her face, Spike chuckled, "Not that this kiss wasn't fantastic or anything, but you still didn't tell me what you wanted to say."

Buffy chuckled along with him, positively glowing, as she whispered, "I meant that I could just be able to trust you like this, if there were something like true love."

"You really mean that, luv?" Spike asked confused, happy, but not ready to believe his luck.

First when Buffy nodded and repeated, "I think, no, I'm pretty sure that I love you," he believed her and leaned down to kiss her again.

This time, their kiss was short and sweet and this time, Spike wasn't out of breath, when he said, "I'm sure I don't need to tell you that I'm head over heels in love with you, Buffy."

Once again, his lips descended and they didn't think about going back inside for a long while.

~*~

The next evening everyone was gathered in front of the crypt, where the four Saiyajins had appeared just a few days ago. Last hugs were exchanged between Pan, who was by the way dressed in the clothes in which she had arrived a half year ago, Mirai and the Scoobies, while the Saiyajins were waiting patiently for them.

"Promise me that you will come back and visit us," Dawn said to Pan with tears shining in her eyes.

"Don't worry Dawnie, Trunks and I will come back," Pan promised, having a hard time to hold back her own tears. How much she hated to say goodbye. Those people had been her family for a half year, the only family she had known at that time and she was going to miss them terribly.

"Hey P, when you come back, I promise I will be stronger then," Faith swore.

"I know. But you also have to promise me another thing. Don't die."

"No problem. Can do that. We're two Slayers, one former vampire and a Key. Nothing should take us down that easily." Faith smirked and going against her own nature, engulfed Pan in a strong and short embrace.

"Goodbye, Dawn, Faith," Mirai said, as he, too, hugged the two girls. The next one standing in the row of farewell wishers was Giles. "Giles, we wanted to say thank you for everything."

"Yeah," Pan continued. "You were a really good friend." Now Pan couldn't hold back her tears anymore and jumped at Giles neck. "Goodbye Giles. Take good care of them."

"I will, Pan, I will. Goodbye, Trunks," he said as Pan let go of him and he shook Trunks' hand.

"Giles."

Then they arrived at the last ones. Spike and Buffy. Holding hands. "Well, Spike…" Mirai said. "Looks like you got your true love."

"Yep, and she's all mine," the former vampire answered smirking.

"Buffy, it was nice to meet you, even if it was just for a few days…"

"It was nice to meet you too, Mirai. You're a great guy. Pan, do you know how lucky you are to have a boyfriend like him?"

"Yeah, I know. But to quote Spike: He's all mine," Pan said laughing. "Goodbye Buffy." They hugged and then Pan went to Spike. "And you help Giles to take care of them. If not I will come back and kick your sorry ass."

"I will take care of them, like I've promised. Goodbye Pan." Spike leaned down and hugged her as well. "Goodbye Boxer Boy," he said, when he and Mirai exchanged a manly hug.

Slowly, one by one, Pan and Mirai said goodbye to the remaining Scoobies. All of them wished them well and made them promise to visit them soon (Willow had managed to ramble almost a whole minute until both Pan and Mirai just pulled her and Tara into a tight hug).

Much too soon it was really time for them to leave and so they walked over to the waiting Saiyajins. Gohan opened the portal and they waved one last time to the Scoobies, before they disappeared in the vortex.

~*~

When the Saiyajins came out of the portal, they were alone in the laboratory. Pan immediately grabbed Mirai's hand and pulled him behind her. "Hey, where are we going?" he asked surprised, much to the other Saiyajin's amusement, as he was dragged off, laughter following them.

"I have to see Bra! Both she and Marron are here! And you know I haven't seen them for a half year," Pan announced happily and ran through the corridors until they stopped in front of a door, through which they could hear loud music.

"What's that?" he asked.

"That's just Bra. She often hears loud music when she doesn't want to be disturbed," Pan explained.

"Then maybe we should come back later, and…"

"No way, you won't get out of meeting your sister. Now… And besides, it's my job as best friend to annoy her." Without another word, Pan opened the door and walked in, followed by Mirai, who looked around a bit uncomfortably. Meeting the sister he had never had wasn't something that happened every day, after all.

The two girls, however, hadn't noticed their entrance, because Bra was lying on her bed, letting her head hang down on one side and they could see Marron's feet on the floor, suggesting that her head should be somewhere near Bra's. Pan smirked and slowly floated over the bed to her two friends, 'lying' on her stomach and resting her head on her hands. "Hey you two! Whatcha doing?" she yelled to be heard over the ear-deafening music.

Bra nearly fell off her bed, when she heard that voice. Neither she nor Marron had seen her, because their eyes had been closed. "Pan?" Marron asked in disbelief.

Bra stared at her best friend for a moment, before she jumped up and tackled her with a loud, "PAN!" You're back! When did they find you? Are you okay?"

"Bra… need… air…" Pan managed to say and Bra immediately got up from her friend. "So, this is a lot better. Yes, I'm back as you see, they've found me a few days ago and yes, I'm okay," she answered the questions. "Oh, and Bra, I'd like you to meet someone." Pan motioned to Trunks.

"Really? Who?" Bra whirled around in excitement, which quickly turned to disappointment, as she sighed dismissively, "Oh, it's just my brother… I thought you found a boyfriend…"

"Uhm, Bra…" Marron said confused. "This is not your brother… Well, at least not your _your_ brother. Just look at him… the hair and… I just don't feel him. He's not our Trunks."

"Marron's right. That's one Trunks, but not your brother Trunks. He is the one who came to the past to help in the fight against the Jinzoningen. And he's mine," she told her friends with a smirk on her face. "Trunks, meet your sister Bra and our best friend Marron."

"Hi," Mirai only said.

"Hi," the girls just replied a bit confused.

Pan saw the look on their faces and began to laugh. "Don't worry, I'll explain everything, when everyone's here."

~*~

Shortly after, everyone was gathered at Capsule Corporation, happy that Pan was back and safe. ChiChi and Videl cried, when they finally saw her again, causing Pan to cry as well. First when everyone had calmed down enough to talk, Pan remembered what she had promised her grandfather. "Grandma, I have to tell you something from grandpa."

"What do you mean?" ChiChi asked confused.

"He visited me in my dreams a few times, to watch over me. He told me to tell you that he's really sorry that he had left you again and that he really loves you with all his heart."

"Thank you Panny…" ChiChi only said, tears once again streaming down her face, and hugged Pan.

~*~

A few days later Mirai and Pan were standing in front of the portal, which was now modified, so that it would also work as a time machine, ready to go to the past to visit the other Bulma. "Okay, kids, are you ready?" the Bulma of their time asked.

"Sure… I can't wait to see my mom again," Mirai Trunks said smiling.

Bulma returned the smile and opened the portal for them. "You can go through now. And don't get lost. Again."

"Don't worry Bulma. That won't happen again," Pan promised and followed her mate through the portal.

~*~

Mirai Bulma was standing in the kitchen, looking out of the window. It had now been about a half year since Trunks had gone back to the past, and she was slightly worried that something might have happened to him. He had just been gone too long without contacting her in any way.

Suddenly she saw how a blue swirling vortex appeared in the front yard and her son and another strange, yet familiar girl stepped out of it. _Speaking, or better, thinking of the devil._ Smiling brightly she quickly ran outside to greet them. "Trunks!" she shouted and hugged him tightly.

"Mom!" he sighed, as he hugged her back.

"Where have you been? It's been a half year!" she asked, hitting him on the arm.

Trunks winced, though this hadn't hurt him at all. He knew that he owed his mother a long explanation, and that she must have been terribly worried, but there was still time for that later. Now, there were more important things, among other the girl who was standing next to him. "That's a long story, but mom, I want to introduce you to Pan. She is Gohan's daughter. Pan, that's my mom."

"Gohan's daughter? But how? Wait, you can explain it to me once we're all inside." Bulma shook her head and led the two of them inside.

A few hours later the two Saiyajins had explained the most important facts. Bulma noticed, how happy her son was and it had really been a long time, since she'd last seen him that happy. He had finally found someone to love, and it was his mentor's daughter he had fallen in love with. The irony of this. She was convinced that it must have been fate that the two found each other in a complete different dimension.

After Pan and Trunks had gone to bed, Bulma was sitting in her room on the balcony looking at the stars. "Oh Vegeta, you should see your son now. Fully grown up, strong and he's even found a girlfriend. I know you would like her. She's a Saiyajin, Gohan's daughter. They're both deeply in love and really happy. And he deserves to be happy after everything he had to go through in the last twenty years," she whispered, feeling that Vegeta was watching her, and hearing every word she said.

~*~

"I wonder what they're doing right now?" Dawn asked, disturbing the silence. She, Buffy, Spike and Faith were on patrol in one of Sunnydale's many cemeteries.

"Who? Trunks and Pan?" Faith asked confused, and upon the 'duh-who-else' look on Dawn's face, snickered. "I think they're having big 'Welcome Back' parties everywhere," Faith told them with a smirk. "I guess, according to what they had told us about their families, that it's gonna be torture for both of them."

"Torture or not, they're finally home, together, and happy, I guess. Just like we are," Spike said as he put his arm around Buffy, something he would have never imagined he could do just a few days ago – never mind the fact that a few days ago they had still believed that Buffy was dead.

"Yeah, happy," the blond Slayer only said and snuggled up to the former vampire with a smile on her face. She would enjoy this new happiness, this feeling of being in love, as long as possible, because who knew what was going to happen in the future?

But for now, all was well.

_THE END_


End file.
